In life you meet TONS of people, but there are those few you meet that you hope to see more of. When I first met Randy - my face hurt from laughing so much. I instantly loved his humor and he made the top of my "invite to every event" list. When Randy met Janna - I knew instantly my double dates would become triple dates. Just as funny as Randy, Janna lights a room up with warmth and calmness. I knew that traveling to Europe to meet up with Janna and Randy would be the best time for Dave and I - but, y'all.... this trip was so much more than that! See, when I shot their wedding in Positano, Italy we were all too busy to get that intimate time together. Please don't be fooled- Italy was amaze balls and we can NOT wait to go back, but it was a wedding week - tons of family, friends, entertainment, our luggage with another couples was lost, so just busy! Going to be with them for a week I was afraid I would talk too much or be too loud- too blunt, just too much in general as I sometimes can be, and that they would regret us coming. I was afraid I hadn't planned enough for being a fly by the seat of my pants gal where Janna loves an itinerary, but nope - none of that. It was the best time, more than I even thought possible, with some of the best people. We are forever grateful for their open doors, arms, hearts and friendship. I wish you all to find a guenuine frienship in someone like we have found in Randy and Janna.
We love y'all.
The pictures above are from Bacharach, Germany. Bacharach was not too mid-evil, but more so than Heidelberg. We were on the edge of the Rhine River with castles in the mountains. Within a 2-3 mile range you would see at least 2-3 castles. It was incredible. To sit and wonder what they were looking for out of those windows... To imagine life then is so hard for me, I think mostly because of the reality of the way things were. Much like the movies in my imagination- very strict policies, a king, a queen, look out spots for trespassers, innocent people searching beyond their only known horizon... Using a compass... We will never know that in our lifetime. ANYWAYS! In life, like a said, you meet tons of people and if you're anything like me you make friends often. Above this paragraph is a photo of the owner, Astrid, of the restaurant from the first picture in this post. She owns, operates and lives above Rusticana Barcharach . When we first sat down I watched her interact with local friends that were riding their bikes, they were all so comfortable in their casual talk. She came up to us and asked us what we would like, how we were doing and before long I had her telling us her life story. She had lost the love of her life a few years back, her birthday is the same as mine and her new husband of one year sent her 75 yellow roses to celebrate her life. She took up snorkeling and travels by the seat of her pants when the season is over in Germany. She is a wonderful painter and isn't sure what will happen to her little town of Bacharach because all of the young people are moving away and only the elderly are still present. She was full of joy and sorrow all at the same time. I just loved her. Before we left she asked if there was anything I wished to see - I replied I want to see some countryside! I want to get up on a mountain and see the city from up high. She then gave us directions to the most perfect view, she said, take this road - you'll know when to pull over to the side. It was the perfect time of day, with the most perfect people in the most beautiful location. Thank you Astrid - you made our evening!
Below is a birthday party for a 17 year old..... In a castle.... wut?
