We made it through another week! I don’t know why, but 2025 has felt so long! We are all adjusting to new school and work routines, and we are all just so tired at the end of the day!
We are technically on the “Winter Sports Pause” at school, but the students have filled this up with optional softball and baseball warm-ups, which the kids have both been attending.
On Tuesday, Ryan tested for the next level in Civil Air Patrol, Cadet Staff Sergeant. I feel like I’m reporting either a promotion or a test every week, but they have just gotten stacked up because of the holidays. This was a big one because he will now move into “Phase II” of leadership. It required a challenging exam and drill test, and he passed on the first try. Next month, he will be pinned again and receive the Wright Brothers Award for his achievement.
At last, it was Friday! As soon as school let out, the kids rushed to meet with the rest of their ski club as they went on the final year trip to Ski Amadé in Austria.
By the time I left work, they were already on their way. Matt and I dropped the dogs off at the dog sitter and headed for our getaway. Since it was only the two of us for the weekend, we booked Schloss Lieser, a 19th-century palace in the Moselle River Valley transformed into a Marriott hotel. The drive took just over three hours, and we arrived shortly after 9 p.m.
Saturday, we slept in before going to breakfast. It was so good! Although they had a breakfast buffet, the meal also included chef-prepared dishes, and I was able to get my favorite—Eggs Benedict, which I haven’t had in forever—and mimosas. After breakfast, we went back to our room, where we binged TV and napped the rest of the day. This is so unlike me, but I think we honestly needed time to catch up on rest and vegetate.
By dinner time, though, I was ready to get up (if only in search of food). We drove into Benrkastel-Kues, which was less than a 10-minute drive away.
I went to Bernkastel-Kues in May 2023 on a girls’ trip, and we loved the bustling riverside market town. However, on this visit, the city was mostly dead! We had a hard time finding stores open or even many people walking around. A lot of restaurants had “Winter Break” signs up in the front windows so maybe the whole town closes in February? We did find an open restaurant, the Ratskellar. and had a very good dinner there before heading back to the hotel for more TV and vegatating.
We slept in again on Sunday and then had another eggs benedict and mimosa breakfast. We had a late checkout, but Matt and I got massages in the hotel spa before then. Then, it was sadly time to go. We had a great time at the “TV Spa,” which is what I nicknamed it after all the time we spent in front of the screen.
On our way home, we went a little out of our way to visit another Moselle River town, Beilstein, which I had seen gorgeous pictures of online. We had hoped to get lunch there, but again, we found the town was mostly closed up for “Winter Break.” The town was still cute, but it definitely would be prettier in Spring, so I guess we will have to come back.
We were home by the early evening, but the kids didn’t return until almost 10. They had a great time on their trip! The club rented three buses and an entire youth hostel to take over 150 kids to the Alps. In addition to skiing, the hostel had a pool, arcade, gymnasium, and many other activities. They were busy the whole weekend and we barely heard from them at all. We missed them so much but are so grateful they get these opportunities to get some independence from us.
Of course they ended the trip with the traditional shirtless run before loading onto the busses and heading home 😂
Gilcrests Abroad 