Visit from London

The time has come. After almost exactly 3 weeks, we are receiving our first visitor. Julian's brother Florian is coming to visit us. After we were the only fans watching the first European Championship game GER vs. SCO in a bar on Friday afternoon, Florian landed in Pittsburgh. After a successful soccer game, we met Florian in our new home. From there we headed straight on towards Front Royal. You are probably wondering where Front Royal is and what we want to do there. First of all, where is Front Royal? Front Royal is in the state of Virginia, about 4 hours south-east of Pittsburgh by car. Front Royal is a small town. There isn't really anything to see here. However, Front Royal is the entrance gate to Shenandoah National Park, which we visited on Saturday. This makes it an ideal place to stay overnight to start the tour the next day. Shortly before midnight, we finally arrived in Front River (which felt like it was somewhere in the middle of nowhere). After we saw that there was a Dunkin' Donut right next to our accommodation, we immediately felt at home again.

The next day, after a somewhat sparse motel breakfast but equipped with snacks, we set off for Shenandoah National Park!
When we arrived at the entrance gate, we first had to pay the fees for the national park. After that, it was uphill for the first time. There were always viewpoints along the route. Once we got to the top, we drove continuously along the ridge. A really beautiful road. After about half the route, it was time to get moving! We walked uphill to Mary's Rock for about 40 minutes. The hike went along a narrow path through the forest. The view at the top, however, was definitely the highlight of the day! A dream! After we had enjoyed the view, we went back to the car. After a short drive, we took a short lunch break in a restaurant along the route. As everywhere in the USA, friendly service and free drink refills 😊
For the rest of the day we drove through the national park, took pictures, enjoyed the view and the good weather. There are also a lot of wineries in Virginia. We made a detour to one of them. We had a little wine tasting there, including a mango-peach wine slushy (very drinkable, tastes way too good 😁) and a round of Wizard. In the evening we treated ourselves to a good meal in an Italian restaurant in Harrisonburg.

On Sunday morning, after a much more balanced breakfast than the day before, we continued on our journey. Today's destination was the Monongahela National Forest. Here, too, there were plenty of great bays to stop at and enjoy the view. The route took us to the Seneca Rocks, a very beautiful mountain range that is ideal for hiking. At lunchtime on the way back to Pittsburgh, we stopped in a small town called Thomas in West Virginia and strolled through the shops there. Then we set off for home, with a short stop to fill up just before the Pennsylvania border. Filling up is a real highlight here. Much cheaper than in Germany (1 liter = around 80 cents). In West Virginia, gas is much cheaper than in Pennsylvania. When we got home, we rounded off the weekend by strolling through the Juneteenth Festival here in Pittsburgh, which was taking place right on our doorstep.

On Monday, Julian went back to work as usual. Florian and I rode the cog railway, walked on Mount Washington and strolled through the city. Of course, we didn't miss the Botanical Garden in Pittsburgh either. Since there is a heatwave here at the moment, we escaped the midday heat and visited the Andy Warhol Museum. In the afternoon, we picked Julian up from work and made ourselves comfortable in a park. We ended the evening in a Mexican restaurant downtown.

On Tuesday morning we had a pancake breakfast together before Julian had to leave for work. Florian and I strolled through Pittsburgh's Strip District and browsed the shops. After that it was time to say goodbye. Florian went back to London via Toronto and our everyday lives returned.
Looking back, it was a great weekend with lots of new impressions, memories and lots of nature. It's great that you visited us, Flo!
We'll be in Pittsburgh for the next three weeks. The travel fever will continue in July... Can't wait to see where we're going next!