If you have ever purchased mineral water, odds are you've heard of "Gerolstein", because "Gerolsteiner" mineral water -- along with "Perrier" and "Evian" -- are probably the brands of European mineral water you see most often in the US.

On Saturday, Jen and I travelled to Gerolstein, the city where the water comes from.

The city of Gerolstein is in a volcanic region of Germany, as you will see.  The city is well known for its rough terrain and its springs of bubbling, strongly-flavored water.  You can see a couple of the sources of the water on the right.  We tasted the water bubbling out of the rock, and it tastes exactly like the Gerolsteiner water you buy in the store.

Jen got a new digital camera right before her trip to Germany, so if you think that the quality of the pictures has improved immensely, you are correct--she is today's "guest photographer", and she actually knows things about all the settings and so on.

Five to ten thousand years ago, several volcanoes erupted in this region, flooding this valley with lava and forming the small mountains you see in the background of some of the pictures.  In terms of geology, 5000-10000 years is NOTHING--the rocks should practically still be hot!

If after a long day of hiking on slipperly, broken volcanic rock, you don't also feel like having an ice cream sundae, I can't stand the sight of you.  :-) 

On the other hand, when it comes to taking pictures of your ice cream sundaes, well, Jen might by out on her own on that!

At the top of the mountain, there was a castle that is mostly in ruins,  However, they apparently have one HELL of a creche at Christmas, based on the stuff Jen and I found when we stumbled apon the storage room accidently!

What I still can't figure out is why there were LIT CANDLES in the storage room!

That, and why Jen took so many pictures of the sheep for the nativity scene!

Jon and Jen, at the castle on the top of the hill.

This was one hell of a climb, and frankly I'm not in the shape I thought I was.  The hills and trees that you see in the background are misleading-- the ground is broken volcanic rock.  It's something like hiking on broken glass.

Various views along the way.  Notice the modern windmills in the distance in the picture on the right. 

These pictures come from a bicycle repair shop in Gerolstein.  I was amused by the sexist logo, but the lady is just so happy!

While waiting for our train back to Cologne, this strange, historic train pulled up.  No one got on, no one got off.  Then the train left, in a cloud of diesel smoke.  It was like some kind of "ghost train".

As I've discussed with some of you individually, I LOOOOVVE  to eat "Doner".  Doner is Turkish fast food, and it is EVERYWHERE in Germany.  It is everywhere, and it's cheap, and it's delicious.  It is something like Greek food, but with cabbage and other spices.  Anyway, Doner is always served up by Turkish immigrants, who look NOTHING like the chick in this advertizement outside what looked like a promising Doner shop.

More on Doner another time.