Beautiful Brücken, Germany!

I am always amazed at how similar to a tapestry the land below looks from 30,000 feet. As we flew across the U.S. I was impressed by the artistry of city planners, farmers and the guys who decide where the roads will connect from city to city.  How do they create such interesting patterns without the perspective that I see it from?  It is crazy to think about...

We were so happy to find that our connecting flight  from Dallas, TX was not very full, so rather than sitting in cramped quarters in coach for the 10 hour flight, Doug was able to scoot across the isle to his very own row.  This made it especially nice during the night flight, as he was able to lay down across the three seats for sleeping.  Not that he was really able to sleep all that much, but it was certainly more comfortable.  My little window seat was not quite as comfortable, but I enjoyed it much more than otherwise.  As the sun came up, I looked down upon the clouds below which looked very much as though someone had emptied billions of bags of cotton balls for us to float into.  They gave way to what looked like heavy cream that had been whipped a little too long. As we dropped through the clouds the familiarity of white stucco houses and red tiled roofs, rolling hills and dense forests took my breath away.  We had arrived!

So you see here two views of Brücken: the top one within days of our arrival and the second one as we are experiencing the village now.  A little cold and a few snow storms here and there, but still the air is clean! No inversion!  Brücken is a small village with everything within walking distance.  Especially the bakery which we have visited on several occasions and yet I am still losing weight.  Go figure! (no pun intended) The second picture is also the view from Mandy and Jared's kitchen window. 

Here is where we are located from Google earth:

This last picture is a traditional German house. It will be amassed with geraniums in another month hanging from the balcony boxes.  We'll take another picture at that time.