August 15th - August 21st

Thursday August 18

We have had a beautiful week! Warm, sun, summer, yippee! I'm hoping to be able to enjoy the high of 86 day today but am stuck in the waiting room right now at St. Johannis Hospital in Landstuhl where I drove Bonnie this am because she has hurt her leg pretty bad. I'm hoping she's ok, I've been helping her walk her two big dogs since she can hardly walk :(which of course I certainly don't mind getting in some play time with someone else's dogs!

Well let's see, Monday was my normal routine of mowing and I felt obligated to do a little extra yard work because the landlords were there working in the yard all morning! I think Frau Schaaf was scolding me a little because I didn't hang enough of the sticky bug catching papers on some of the bushes out front...oh well lesson learned for next year!

Tuesday was definitely a new adventure for me as I ventured into K-Town to The Hair Lounge for my first German haircut and coloring experience. I actually took the bus from Alsenborn which took me right to the TI in K-Town. There was a very helpful man working there that helped explain a bit about the bus (VRN and DB) and Deutsch Bahn (train and bus transport). Apparently the buses that run from our town are not the same company as the ones in the city but the good news is that a round trip ticket or some kind of pass would allow me to use all the different kinds of transportation. So at least I was able to get a little more info on that. The man at the TI said I should visit the info desk at the Bahnhof for more detailed schedules and pass information....but I didn't have time for that since it took over 3 hours to beautify my lovely locks. At The Hair Lounge I was greeted by a whole group of nice ladies. Most spoke a bit of English and all stood around me when my stylist, Manuela, was learning what I wanted done. I think they were stylists in training because they all did little bits and pieces of the process and stood watching Manu as she was cleverly painting my hair.  They served fancy cappuccinos and espressos and were all super nice. All in all it was a good experience and I was very pleased with the outcome, and I darn well better be since it was a bit of a pricey appointment! I made it up to the Bahnhof in time to catch a train back home but since I only had about 10 minutes I didn't have time to inquire at the Deutsch Bahn info desk, just the TI desk inside the door about my trip back home. Basically I could have bought a 24 hour ticket on the bus that morning for €5, 30 but since the bus driver couldn't understand me or me him I bought the 1 way €3,50 and then did the same on the way home. Ok lesson learned there too :). Good news was that I could pick up the bus at the Enkenbach Bahnhof to Alsenborn no charge. Well could I have been that lucky? No. So I walked the 25 minutes home which certainly didn't kill me but the blisters on the back of my heels would say otherwise (still figuring out the perfect footwear here). I've come to the conclusion that I have too many of the wrong shoes and not enough of the right ones! I wish I didn't have to accessorize so much but I guess that is why I look at the Germans and wonder why they are wearing what they are. They are smart, they layer and dress for comfort, and wear socks with Birks, and don't seem to really care if they are matchy matchy. Oh well, I learn. Anyhow, my hair looked too good to stay home so we went to good ole Stella's for some Greek eatin! Yum!

Bonnie and I went back to Stella's for lunch Wednesday (lol) and that afternoon our boxes and paper were finally picked up from the move. Now we can get the garage in order.


Friday August 19

I don't want to jinx it but it has been 5 straight days of summer weather!!! I was finally able to make it to the pool after we returned from the hospital. Unfortunately Bonnie didn't get any answers and we have to go back on Monday for an MRI. Poor thing. She needed to rest her leg so I walked down to the pool and was lucky to get a chair. What a perfect day I was able to get some good sun, read, and oh boy the people watching! Ok, I know we're in a different culture so there are a lot of new things to get used to! Some of these things relating to a public swimming area would include:
-more than my eyes needed of speedo wearing of all ages
-little girls not wearing bathing suit tops
-children changing right out in the open
-a very large back tattoo or tramp stamp on almost every woman
-basically no care whether women fit into their suits or if they covered any part of their body!
Ok now that is quite critical of me. I just had too much time by myself that afternoon! Oh well, I will never feel self conscious again after having been to the pool and with the forecast in the 80's in the next week I might go back! If I do I will not be judgmental. I heard a lot of English speaking people there too, I think there are quite a few living here because of the military. It's a super nice facility with a lot of things to do in there besides the pool. Outdoor volleyball, chess, Foosball, and soccer goals. Tons of grass space, lounging chairs, 3 different diving board heights and a big slide as well as a little restaurant. You can bring in your own food and drinks too (alcohol included) and basically for €2 you can make a whole day of it.


Saturday August 20 Burg Eltz and Reichsburg Cochem

We started out around 8:00 for the Burg Eltz Castled up north from here. It was only about an hour and 45 minutes drive through the windy roads that follow the Moselle River. This was an area more North than where we were last weekend. It is not an easy place to find but when we did you'd be shocked to know that an enormous castle was tucked away there! The very steep and windy road down to the castle is only accessible by walking or shuttle (we walked) and oh when you catch first glimpse of the castle what a magnificent sight!

The Burg Eltz

It has been left intact for 700 years and is still privately owned by the Eltz Family - the 33rd generation! The castle was never destroyed but is currently going through renovations and repairs to keep it in good condition for 100's more years. Unfortunately we were not able to take pics inside on the tour but the website shows pictures of what we saw on the tour, which we took in English! We were able to take pics in the Armoury and Treasury room where I described in detail under the pictures.  My first German castle experience was wonderful! After we climbed the steep road back to the car we made our way upriver to the town of Cochem.

Cochem is a very picturesque, medieval town with the castle, Reichsburg Cochem, sitting high above it's inhabitants. It was another amazing sight to be driving along the Moselle, come around a curve in the river upon this town with the castle up so high!

Cochem Castle

We parked at the north end and walked into town for some lunch at Gasthaus Dazert where the cute old man owner shuffled along and really didn't speak any English. I exercised my language skills at ordering and used my handy speisekarte (menu helper that we carry with) and had a yummy peaceful lunch. It was beautiful outside and we wanted to choose a spot out on a terrace but with so many people out and about we were happy with Dazert, on a 2nd floor with open windows overlooking the main street. We then made the hike up to the castle on the other side of town. The little streets were lined with shops and eateries and wine stores galore! This castle tour was only in German but we were able to follow along with an English printout. it was totally destroyed in 1689 by French soldiers but was reconstructed according to old plans in the late 1800's by Mr. Louis Ravené, arch merchant from Berlin. Since 1978 the castle has been owned by the town. Again, I've described the pictures in more detail so be sure to check the links! At about the end of the tour my camera battery was exhausted, and quite frankly so were Dave and I! We wanted to visit a few of the local wineries but were a little too overheated to be wine tasting. We headed back to the car and made our way further up river, enjoying the beauty of the Moselle and all of the quaint little wine towns that line it as well as the STEEP vineyards that line the walls of the valley! We thought the ones we saw last weekend were steep?! We figured this was a good and close place to come back and visit when we have wine-loving guests stay so we weren't too bummed about not stopping in any of the local joints.

Link to Castle Pictures:

We went to K-Town for dinner outside at the St. Martin Restaurant which was the place behind the swan fountain in a previous posts picture. There was a car show going on downtown which was pretty neat to see in Germany, so we sat outside and enjoyed all the sights and business.

It was still really nice outside so we came home and enjoyed some drinks up on our terrace...another fun little adventure today indeed.



Perfect end to a fun day, I love Germany!

August 8th - August 14th

Wednesday August 10
What a gorgeous day! Yes I will write about the weather in most of my posts because it affects my every single day around here! Monday and Tuesday were r.a.i.n.y. to the max! Monday I got half the yard done and it rained on me in the morning then attempted to finish up later when the sun was out but it poured on me 1/2 way through. Oh well, finished it in the lovely rain! I was able to finish yet another book, Saving Grace, a good one, and get our weekend trip booked to Luxembourg. Now, some would say that is not that exciting but to us it is! It's a whole other country even though its really close and like the size of Des Moines! We will do a wine tour via bike in the Mosel River Valley and I'm sure it will be a lot of fun. We are staying in the city and will do lots of fun walking, sightseeing and eating! I should be getting my Rick Steves' Ireland 2011 any day in the mail and can't wait to plan that one!


This morning when I up woke up to the sun it just lifted my spirits after the rain. I better get used to this gloomy-ness or just plan lots of warm tropical vacations in the fall and winter! I thought it was a good day to take the bus to K-Town since there were a few things I needed to get done there. I called Bonnie to see if she was up for it but she was planning to hit the commissary so I I'd tag along there again SINCE we got an empty propane tank from our friend Seth I need to get it filled and on post is really our only option. Yippee, grilling brats tomorrow! The day was just so bright and blue that I had to head out on the bike. I tackled a few hills and ventured into apart of town that I hadn't been to yet. I also managed to ride up a personal driveway that I thought was a trail. I was near fields and as I was getting to the top a nice JD sprayer was cutting the path in front of me and the driver was just looking at me....I realized I must've been on his property! Oops! Here's a pic of a cat attacking something in the field I was next to.

I made a delicious lemon-olive chicken and risotto dinner with fresh salad from the garden (minus the snails) then we headed to the Netto to return a few empty cases of beer (since that would be a bit of a challenge for me on the bike!) Dave got another case, a different kind and I found a bottle of white lieblish (sweet) wine called Mosel which was perfect prep for the weekend! As we headed out of the store I had to pass the Hofmeister (Netto's bakery) for the 2nd time today. Ohhhh the goodies that were in that case, I just had to exercise will power. I'm not riding my bike nearly enough to make it worth eating those as well as the salami I've taking a liking for, the nutella, the bread that I'm not used to eating, all the good places we're trying, and the little German cookies that we eat with tea....and since it's been so cold we are making tea and therefore eating the little cookies. Oh lordy I need to get my butt back into the gym. I can't blame the European electric dryer for shrinking my pants! Oh well enough of the rambling, tea is done, a new book awaits me.

Sunday August 14

Thursday ended up turning into a beautiful day. Bonnie and I attempted to take the bus to K-Town but what we discovered pretty much was that all the schedules seem to be right and there is a really big gap from about 9:30-3:30 for buses coming through town. There are only 2 lines that run through town but you can always count on the train at 15 past the hour, so that is what we did. I need to look into getting a train pass if I'm going to make frequent trips. Anyhow, I had to run a few errands, we had a good lunch and did some sight seeing and walking around. A fun but quick trip!



Swan Fountain



Husband and Wife Art?!?!

  

Unicorn Art



Restaurant filled street in K-Town

King Barbarossa Fountain



Dave and I left for Luxembourg when he got home on Friday, it was only about 2 hours away. It's just a little itty bitty country nestled in between Germany, France and Belgium only about 50x50 square miles and 500,000 people! Lux City was a nice city, beautiful and really easy to get around all on foot. We stayed at The Golden Tulip which was about a 5-10 minute walk to city center. Friday night we got in a little late but headed to a place close to the hotel for dinner where Dave sampled a Luxembourgish dish of dumplings and bacon....not sure what to think of it as it looked less than appealing to me but he liked it! I had a chicken salad and a shandy :). We walked into the city center and were just in awe at the huge wall that surrounds the city atop of it. It's really interesting because Lux City has a few different levels (as you'll notice in pictures) from the Grund at river level to the Centre which seems to be the highest we climbed. All of the stores were closed, restaurants were clearing out and there weren't really too many people around but there was a jazz band playing in the Place d'Armes that was peaceful to listen to. Since it was raining we got some Mc Flurries from a Mc D's on the corner and sat under cover listening to the jazz. Yes we could have gotten some fancy little French/Luxembourgish whatever dessert but sometimes you just want something familiar!

We headed out on foot Saturday morning after breakfast at the hotel, which by the way, we loved the croissants! It was really cool to walk into the city in the daylight and see the depth of the valleys and the height of the wall and the beautiful architecture and churches. We walked along the lower perimeter of the wall and found our way to the Bock Casements. It was the original dungeon of the castle in Lux and used as protection and defense. There are many kilometers of passages through them and I'm sure we didn't see nearly 1/2. After visiting them though we saw the towers and defense wall from a different perspective because we had actually been looking out many of the peepholes as we toured through there! We hadn't noticed all of the holes and windows before...i guess that was the point huh?! We went through the Notre Dame Cathedral, St. Michaels Church, and did much more sightseeing through the city. We learned that Lux City was formed in 963...1048 years ago. Its still hard for me to grasp that.

For the past month we've been trying so hard to get by with broken and mismatched German and this being our first time to a different country was a little bit of a challenge for me...do I speak English, German, French? The Luxembourgish language is mixture of German and French so if that doesn't throw a wrench into it! I felt my high school years of French all coming back to me and was laughing to myself that I could recognize more in French than German haha oh well. Part of the European experience right? The good news is that most places have English menus if we can't figure out what they have posted means...oh and it's a law for them to post their menu outside their establishment. I find that very helpful! Shopping is only a challenge if you have questions or problems and the salesperson doesn't speak what I'm sayin! For example....my FAVE catalogue, Yves Rocher, where I've been buying skin products and perfume for years actually had 2 stores in Lux! I know it's a French Co. but the thought never crossed my mind that I'd run into a store over here because customer service was out of Champlain NY! Anyhoo I HAD to go in and get a few things. I did have questions because the line of things I like had some items that I wasn't familiar with so the girl working tried to help and between us both there was a lot of hand gesturing and pointing to try to describe what each if us was saying. It was a funny experience!

That afternoon we headed to a Bike Tour/Wine Tasting in the Mosel River Valley. It was a 30km trip out of the city which took us right to the border of Germany. The Moselle River is international water with the dividing line of the 2 countries being right down the middle! What a beautiful area! Vineyards galore, and boy were they steep. We sure were hoping we didn't have to bike up them! The area is known for it's Riesling but they also have many other grape varieties there as well. We were to meet Simoné at the Museé du Vin - the wine museum- at 2:30 but we got there super early and just relaxed in the car by the river, it was a full morning! We saw a tour of bikes pull in and figured that was our cue to meet the group. Well unbeknownst to us, we got a personal tour! It was just the 3 of us, we were so excited! Simoné just started the tour group only 4 months ago after making a move from the Netherlands. I thought that was awesome because her tours are rated on Trip Advisor as the #1 thing to do in Luxembourg! We had a great personal tour with Simoné, learned a lot about the area and all of the different types of grapes that they grew there- Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot noir and Chardonnay too. It was really something. Granted the initial climbs in the vineyard were a little difficult, the view from the top was well worth it! We went through small towns - Ahn, and Grevenmacher on the Lux side to where we crossed the Mosel into Germany and made way to Nittel where we visited the Apel Winery. Be sure to check the site for some great pictures of the area. You'll see the owner, bald man with mustache, who personally did our wine tasting, explaining each one and giving recommendations. Strangely enough, when we told him that we were from the Finger Lakes he said his nephew work there for a few months!! Small world right? He didn't say where though. Simoné was translating the best she could - which by the way, she spoke excellent English and I thought pretty good German too with her being there only 4 months! It was a pretty cool experience! The wines were sooooooo good especially the ice wine, my 1st experience with that expensive delight! The one we tried won a record for its level of sweetness. Our favorite bottle was of the Elbling group and came from the same variety that the Romans grew in the valley 2000 years ago. We ended up getting 7 bottles of wine that the owner packed into a nice box for us...it was the record as the most bought on Simonés tour so far! Be sure to look at the pics of how well Dave did bringing the box back :). It was a 4 hour tour and about 15 kilometers and a bunch of fun. I promised Simoné that I would giver her an excellent review on Trip Advisor and maybe she'll put our pic on the website!

Back in the city of Lux we meandered into the city for a bite to eat and realized that the later it got the less likely we were to get what we wanted on the menu...or to be able to go to a place we wanted. They tend to shut down a little earlier than we would expect for a touristy area. We found a place that was good and both had chicken cordon bleu. Sunday morning we decided to do a walk in the Grund section of Lux that Simoné had recommended. This is the lower part of the city on the river. My pics do a lot more of the explanation. It was pretty rainy but it was still a very beautiful and enjoyable walk. We headed back to the hotel, checked out and headed to the American Cemetery just outside of town. What a somber experience to be able to visit that cemetery. General Patton is buried there as well as quite a few members of the Band of Brothers and 1 female Army nurse. It was just so amazing to me to be there having finally taken an interest in our history...something about being in Germany has made me want to know everything about WWII! It was still a little rainy so we headed back home. It was a fun weekend to such a historical city and there are so many more to explore! Sunday night we fired up the grill for brats and homemade Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes) and a bottle of Apel Elbling Tradition. Mmm mmm mmm, what a great end to a fun weekend...then we crashed!

Link to Luxembourg City Pictures:

August 2nd - August 7th

Saturday August 6
First and foremost, we are connected to the world again hip-hip-hooray! We have had a week of summer, it's really been beautiful and hopefully it will last throughout the month and even into September would be great since we have a wedding and Oktoberfest to go to! I never made it to the pool this week; it was just so crowded every time I went by I would have been lucky to find a small piece of grassy knoll to lay a towel on! Hopefully it will still be open after school is in session again :). I did manage to get good walks in everyday, even in the rain, and each time it's like a new adventure although I'm sure the locals would disagree. It's not just a normal stroll through the neighborhood, there are so many trails and woods and the houses are all just so different that it's still pretty cool to me. I bet I will feel like its "normal" soon enough :).

Things are definitely starting to become easier, more familiar so that I'm not actually carrying my German-English dictionary everywhere I go!  I have a good translation app on the iPad that is helpful and I usually listen to my German for Dummies when mowing :)  I'd like to start using Rosetta Stone soon and then we'll be taking a class in September which I think will be most beneficial.  I seriously want to be able to understand WHAT people are saying to me but from what we've learned, we are in an area where they speak terrible slang!  Oh goody, that should make things easier!  It does help that Bonnie knows some German and she'll teach me words when we're walking or at a restaurant.  It's just that I have to remember what she told me, I'm such a terrible listener.

Monday August 8
I'm so glad everyone is enjoying reading the blog and getting a laugh or two! I thought I'd keep up with doing the journals and then combining them into the blog on a weekly basis. That is as long as I have things to write about :). I did have a bit of an adventure last week, Bonnie took me to the Sembach Base to visit the Commissary, yeah! It's a much smaller base, previously occupied by the Air Force until the Army took it over but it was fun. There is a little Thrift Shop that we stocked up on a whole bunch of books (that we'll share reading) and there were a whole bunch of European small appliances that people have donated before heading back to the states which is good to know in case my mixer or food processor from the US craps out me. It was fun to go to the Commissary to get some "goods" that I didn't have here. Cheerios, Coffee-Mate, Tostitos, turkey burgers, but for the most part I can get everything else we need in the stores here. It's just nice to have some of the things we are used to, you know?

Wednesday night we went to a place we had been to when we here house hunting, The Quack, where they have really good Flammküchen. We love that!  I was able to get a mega load of weeds pulled in the yard on Thursday. Friday was "bio" garbage day so I made sure to get them in the bin so they didn't sit there for another 2 weeks. Friday night we went to Pizzeria de Franco with Bonnie and Jeff. It's a good Italian place just a few minute walk away. We had a good time with them and got some good travel advice as they had lived in Deutschland for 5 years, a few years ago.

Saturday we headed to Mannheim to have lunch with our friend Seth. We ate outside at a lovely French restaurant that sits on a large circle surrounding the water tower.

It was beautiful, and the day was beautiful too. After lunch we headed to IKEA to browse for some shelving/organization for the house. We didn't end up with any but did get a lamp, hamper, a few rugs and a milkshake :) IKEA is such a huge overwhelming store!  I have never been but if I didn't already have too many accents for our house I would certainly love going there....frequently!

Saturday night was a bit rainy so we stayed in and I cooked up mini-rostbrotwurst and sauerkraut and I think they turned out pretty good! Since we finished Band of Brothers, we then watched the commentary from the actual veterans and then watched disc one over again! We loved it!

Sunday was another low key day, hanging around the house, and we took another great ride on our bikes. I say great now but at the time I thought I might keel over and die...the stupid hills are deceiving! You don't realize that you are steadily climbing...ever.so.slowly....up these trails. It's fun though, we were on a trail that lead to Frankenstein that was 7,5 k away but it was mostly uphill and we had enough for the time being - the ride back down was fun though! We decided to walk up to the Bahnhof in Enkenbach and try a new place for dinner.

It was still pretty nice out so we sat in the biergarten and ended up being the only customers the whole time! The owner was nice, spoke a little English and even brought us out a little treat after our meal. His daughter had just brought him an all natural bottle of what tasted like a cherry liqueur from Romania and he was nice enough to share with us! Getting a shot of schnapps or liqueur after dinner is pretty common here. We had a nice peaceful stroll back home and walked by a house blaring Ghetto Superstar from the windows, all we could do is laugh!

Our first month has been a good one here. It's time to prioritize our travels and really start the research now that we are online. Now it's time to mow before the anticipated rain comes our way. Back to jeans and sweatshirts this week, it's going to be a cool one!

July 25th - August 1st

Thursday July 28
I've learned that my German neighbors are obsessed with cleaning their steps. I also saw another elderly lady scraping the moss between the cobblestones outside her house, omg, am I supposed to do that? It would take me a year to do all that, we have a big driveway and a corner house! Also the Germans have plants...everywhere...steps, window sills, inside, outside, lining the driveway. And they (most of them) take pride in the appearance of their landscaping. I think there is enough in our yard for me to keep up with and I don't need to add to it. Although I did bring our flower pots with us...

So, I've been completely under the weather and the weather has been somewhat less than desirable! I woke up with white spots on my throat on Tuesday and thought for sure I had strep throat. So I called Dave to figure out how I was going to get to a doctor (with no Internet for another 6-10 days and no phone book I was feeling a little helpless) but by the time he got an answer it was too late in the day. I curled up with a blanket and a book and listened to the rain. Wednesday we found out that the doctors office is right around the corner but only with hours from 8-12 so by the time I received the info at 10:30 I called the office till noon only to get a busy signal the whole time! I just took it easy the rest of the day, I finished another book yippee! I was feeling better and actually some of the white spots had disappeared. So I'm figuring it is just sinus stuff and if it doesn't seem to get any better by early next week I will try the doctor again. I realized that I was dialing the office without adding on a "0" at the end of the number. Dave told me to leave it off and since we don't understand the phone numbers here I listened ton him :). I walked up to Aldi's...in the rain....to get stuff for dinner and walked by the office and noticed the number included the zero so I tried it when I got home and voila, right through to the voicemail! It's funny we ride bikes by that office all the time and didn't know what it was!

Since we got a converter for the computer I've been adding pictures to my Kodak Gallery so that it's easy to upload them once we have Internet. If the weather cooperates in the next 2 days, Bonnie and I want to take the train down to K-Town to explore but if it's going to rain like it has everyday then we will hold off. I'm trying to plan our weekend to Rothenburg for Saturday and Sunday which looks like a cool town. It's Germany's best preserved medieval "walled" town.

Sunday July 31

It's been another weekend already! Sunday is a good day to be home, it's quiet hours all day so that is a good excuse to watch movies, read, spend time with each other biking, hiking, etc. Still no Internet of course and boy do I miss Facebook. There are so many days when I'm doing something or see something and have to put it on Facebook but, oops, still can't! Oh well I'm sure I will still have those moments when the glorious day of being online finally comes. As it turns out, the USB stick that was lent to us never caught a signal so we didn't even bother trying to get online after a few days.

As July closes on us, I'm curled up with a blanket, tea and my iPad! Dave said that it's been a great summer for tea! Oh my goodness, this weather has just been so dreary, I sure hope we don't have an early and/or long winter. So I though it was a good time to update on our weekend whereabouts.

On Friday, Bonnie and I took the train from Enkenbach to Kaiserslautern which round trip cost me €5,30 which I didn't think was too bad. We didn't really have a plan but to walk around, shop and have some lunch. It really was an easy experience taking the train though. It's about a 25 minute walk from the house to the station then a 12 minute ride to K-Town and inside the station there we can get info on all the other trains that connect through there as well as the fast ICE trains! We left der Bahnhof and headed toward downtown but didn't get too far because we found a cute jewelry/bead shop that we spent a little time in of course. The owner was super nice, English speaking, and gave us cards to hand out out to other Americans! I will definitely go back there because much of the jewelry she makes is similar to mine and maybe she'd be interested in buying what I have?! We walked to the area that is lined with cobblestone walkways, shops, restaurants, cafés, etc. It's quite easy to get around on foot down there and certainly close by. We pretty much made it a day of that and got home just about the same time as Dave did from work...just in time to head to our local fave...Stella's...the Greek place 150 meters away.

We left early on Saturday for Rothenburg ob der Tauber which was about a 2 hour drive on the A6 East.

It's a scenic drive just on the Autobahn! The little towns and villages nestled in the hills, the vineyards, churches, and castle ruins that just appear out of no where!

When we pulled into the parking outside "the wall" and immediately felt that we were in Medieval times! 

We immediately climbed a wall tower and started walking the perimeter of the town wall. It's about a mile and 1/2 all around but we just did a part of it before climbing down to the busy streets filled with tourists, shops, bakeries and beautiful architecture all in place by about 1400...isn't that crazy?! We chose a restaurant outside in Market Square called the Gasthaus Marktplatz that was prime people watching and good food. It was right next to the Town Hall which was a very bust place with vendors, tourists, and even a wedding party on the steps! After lunch we went to the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum that had EVERYTHING connected to medieval criminal punishment, pretty freaky stuff. It was certainly interesting and luckily all the items descriptions were in English to make it worth our while otherwise we wouldn't have know what we were looking at half the time probably! Pretty scary stuff though - I don't know what's worse - now or then?!

We spent some more time walking the wall on the other side and then back to the streets and shops. We were by St. Jakob's Church where a wedding was outside. The bride and groom were releasing white doves! Many of the guests were wearing funky hats and were dressed in 1920's get-up, it was neat to see. The Christmas shops are unbelievable and I can't wait until the Christmas markets start up in November, I'm waiting until then to buy all of the fun decorations and collectibles I was looking at. There were tons of steins, cuckoo clocks, wooden carved trinkets and ornaments that I could just go crazy with souvenirs but then we reminded each other that we already have way too much stuff to begin with! So we will settle with some special traditional items that we know we'll use forever. It's always good to eat our souvenirs too :) and I couldn't leave Rothenburg without trying the popular Schneeballen which i didn't read good reviews about but had to try them because they were everywhere! It's basically pie crust scraps rolled up into a ball, baked and then dusted with sugar or some other sweet coating. I had a little choco-dipped Schneeball and I thought it was ok! I could not see eating the BIG ones they had but at least I tried it. We were starting to get rained on so after the last stop at the bakery, we made our way out of the walled city and headed home.

Link to the Rothenburg ob der Tauber pictures:

There's a little place up the road called La Piazza that we thought we'd try for dinner. It's the same place we stopped for ice cream last weekend. The waitress handed us a couple of menus with nothing but ice cream sundaes! No food there so we got a couple of beers and headed to a place around the corner from there called Alfred's Bistro to actually eat dinner and it was pretty good, a nice quiet and quaint little place. It's fun to try new places.

Today was a pretty lazy day, gloomy again, but we did manage to get a bike ride in and found some trails that we hadn't seen before. There is an entire trail of 12 different stations (the one we were at was the Labyrinth) that we will have to try next weekend. I'm not sure yet what the story is with those but we'll soon find out!

Tuesday August 2
It's a miracle! Two days of sunshine and beautiful weather, almost as if a flip was switched at the beginning of August! Now we can just hope and pray that it continues! Yesterday I had to mow the neglected yard and I sure learned my lesson to not let it go over a week! It took me over an hour and a half because I had to keep emptying the grass clippings but it sure looks nice now :). Then I took a quick stroll to the bakery to get a roll for a sandwich for lunch, forgetting that the one closest to us closes at 12:30 but luckily there is another in Alsenborn open all day. In the afternoon I decided to try one of the Nordic Trails through the woods so I packed up my backpack and set out. It was a fun little hike on a beautiful day.

I thought I'd do the short blue 3,5k trail but then decided to do the red 6,2k trail instead. I was a little scared in the woods but the trails are well marked and there were other bikers on the trails. I don't know if I was more scared of scary animals or scary people but luckily there were neither!

It was really peaceful, actually.

There were crazy mushrooms growing all through too! 

On the way back home I went by the pool and it was packed! Of course it was for the 1st nice hot day we've had in weeks! Maybe this afternoon that would be a good plan since I am trying to ignore all of the weeds growing in the flowerbeds since we've had soooooooooo much rain!

We received the directions to complete the paperwork to be residents of the town so I better get started on that. Still no word on our Internet hookup, I won't even know what to do with myself once we actually do get it! Everything takes a bit more time here than what we are used to. I guess not being so rush rush is a better way to live anyway!

July 18th - July 24th

Tuesday July 19
Another day of rain yesterday. It was on and off for most of the day but held off pouring long enough so that I could ride my bike up to the Wasgau because I was on the hunt for frischfleisch a.k.a. Hamburger. I realized when I went to order it that I couldn't order a pound so I just let the lady give me whatever amount and I weighed it at home :). I made meatballs and they turned out pretty good, thankfully Betty C. came to Germany with me. I also found a tablecloth to replace the hideous bright pink one!

As I was making my meatballs later that afternoon the doorbell rang and totally caught me off guard! Our first visitor! Well 1st I have to buzz the intercom to let them in then since I hadn't unlocked the front door I had to run downstairs to get the keys since you have to use keys on the inside and outside to lock/unlock. I open the door to find our landlady outside...i guess that was on ok visitor :) she brought over traps to hang on the tomatoes and plants to keep the bugs off. So we walked around the yard and to the garden where I think she and her husband said that we could eat the salad lettuce! Then she was drawn to the grill and patio set and kept commenting on how big they were...yes I know...we are American and have big things! They are nice though and she said that she was going to have her son call me since he speaks English very well. That would be good in case there is anything important that we need to know that we can't understand from them! I don't even know what their names are!


Wednesday July 20
More rain! Now we didn't move to London for Pete's sake! Yesterday was on again off again rain all day and i didn't take my umbrella on a walk...I guess I should just get used to carrying it everywhere. Now I will have to master the umbrella holding while riding a bike :)

I finally met one of our neighbors, not a German though! Her name is Bonnie and she is always walking her 2 dogs and we ran into each other around the corner and got to talking for a while. They are with the Military as are ALL of the other people on our street I learned! Hmmm, funny our immediate neighbors are all German it seems. Well it was good just to meet someone and have a person to talk to. Now that I'm actually getting the house to where I want it and I will have Internet to do research on Friday I will be able to get a life lol! This little town has about 60 different organizations we read online so I'm sure once I figure out what and where they are I should be able to have plenty do do.

We laughed the other day about me taking the bus because we don't understand the schedule yet so Dave suggested me getting on the bus and he following me in the car :). I think that would be pretty funny - now though I could just get on and see where I go since I have a cell I would just be able to call Dave when I get to where ever! Since I probably wouldn't know how to get back yet! I do know that the bus #136 does go into K-Town so I could just wait for that one and hop off where I saw familiar? I don't know if I'm that daring yet :)


Friday July 22
Finally a day yesterday with no rain, and hopefully today will be the same. Also today is INTERNET day!!! Yippee, back to being connected by the W.W.W. Thank goodness. It's also the same technician for phone hook up but we don't have a phone to hook up! Oh well it will be good just to have the Internet.

I visited the Rathaus which is the City Hall and got a lot of information on the town and surrounding area. I registered us in the town and got the info needed for the garbage/recycling program, got the train schedule, and picked up a calendar of events for the area. Festivals galore....these people must look for any excuse to have a festival :)

The garden is looking really good, I'm really unclear on how much we can enjoy it. I feel guilty enjoying the fruits of someone else's labor! I did cut out a head of lettuce the other day and it was sooooooo good! Some of the tomatoes look ready, beans are still really small. I'll weed today and pop out a few little cherry tomatoes, I'm sure they won't be missed! There are snails everywhere and slug type creatures too...I don't know what the heck the thing was stuck on the lettuce but i poked it off with a stick, it was 4" big! Gross.

I'm going to attempt to mow the yard today since it looks like rain and it's supposed to rain tomorrow, shocking. My sinuses are finally catching up to the new area. My head is cloudy and loopy and I've got the drippage-lovely. All the rain doesn't seem to help either? We move so much I never know what environmental factors play a part in my sinus problems! Oh well çe la vie!

Omg no Internet. We have our phone hook up but he didn't hook up the Internet. We are supposed to receive a router in the mail prior to the installation, well hopefully this doesn't take too much longer! I rode all around town looking for a phone but no luck, so we headed to the big REAL store after Dave got home. I finally got a radio, hair dryer, and flat iron so I can actually do my hair too :)

I successfully mowed the lawn all by myself and am pretty proud because I don't think I've ever done that without asking for help! Probably took me an hour since I'm OCD and have to have the lines perfect plus I had to empty out the grass container 3 times. Neighbor Bonnie brought her dogs, Layla and Buster over for a visit. They don't have a fenced in yard so we decided to have them come over once in a while so they are free from the leash!

Well I guess we will continue to watch Seinfeld seasons and movies that Dave brings home from the gym until we get Internet or tv!


Monday July 25
I can't believe we've been here for two weeks already! Well, two weeks here together anyway. The weekend was nice, no Internet still, so the research on weekend activities isn't really happening. I have area maps that I picked up from the Rathaus as well as a Rick Steves' book that highlights Germany really good.

Saturday morning Dave set out to find the converter that we've been looking for and he succeeded! We still have to be careful of the wattage though because they only convert 100 watts but the computer seems to work ok with it. While he was gone I took a bike ride around town and wound up at the cemetery in Alsenborn, it's really pretty actually. The graves are completely different than what we are used to seeing. I didn't take pics out of respect for all the people that were there maintaining their loved ones graves. I ventured up a trail a little farther to find a pet cemetery, complete with very well maintained little grave sites! I thought that was really special! It was locked though so I couldn't get in.

That afternoon we decided to try biking one of the many Nordic Walking Tours that are all around the little towns. Well little did we know that it was a very mountainous path in the forest! It's cool though that the different paths are all marked throughout the forest so you can't get lost, you'll end up someplace! Well we had enough of walking our bikes up steep hills and riding down the rough terrain that when we hit a main road we took the pavement back to town. Then we took a nice paved path called Pfälzer Land Radweg to a town NW of us called Mehlingen. Nothing too exciting in the town except the unbelievable scenery of the German countryside between the towns riding our bikes. It was really breathtaking. Saturday night we stayed in, read, played games and watched the rain!

Sunday morning we decided to head south to Baden-Baden, a high-class spa, casino town. It's a beautiful town with wrought iron balconies on 19th-century apartment buildings, and lots of shops and cafés on the cobblestone streets. We took the suggested walk in the tour book, enjoyed a lovely little lunch at Café Beeks and then headed to the well known Roman-Irish Bath (Friedrichbad) for an experience that we were sure we'd never forget. We knew going into it that it was a nude spa and on Sunday both sexes are mixed among the different rooms. We read that it was a classy and respectful ritual and you could tell that right from the sign in desk at reception but when we got there we chickened out! Haha we just didn't feel right with all of the other people waiting in the lobby at the same time...we decided that we just weren't ready for that yet and we will experience it sometime!

Next was a search for Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte a.k.a. Black Forest Cake since we were in the Black Forest it seemed like a must-do. The place we chose actually did not have the cake but the waitress said she'd surprise us with a different German dessert and it was yummy with apples, some kind of nuts, custard sauce and whipped cream. we headed home shortly after and it was a beautiful drive through the forest. We also drove through a small portion of France...my 1st time in France! We also drove through towns that had the old castle and ruins on top of the whole town - Bad Dürkheim and Frankenstein - it was a pretty cool sight.

At home we settled in for the night and started the Band Of Brothers series and I can't wait to watch that. I'm usually not one for War shows, movies, etc. but this is great (thanks Dan!) and I'm completely sucked into a Jody Picoult book (thanks Inga!) because I need to stay up past midnight reading!


LINK TO PICTURES FROM BADEN-BADEN

Our 1st Week in the House...

Our Internet is up and running, praise the lord!  I don't know how we survived before the Internet, it's amazing what you get used to.  Well we've been here for almost a month now and life is good!  There have been ups and downs of course and we sure have has a boat loads of rain which didn't do too much for my mood but we're getting along just fine and enjoying our time so far.  I've kept a journal on my iPad for my days without being online and I hope that I don't bore you with what I've been up to for the past month!  We've had a few fun day trips and explored our immediate area as well. 

Happy ready and there will for sure be more ahead!  Tschüs!


Tuesday July 12
The day started off with Dave and I taking a walk up to the little bakery for some coffee and a pastry, pretty yummy I must say :) the coffee thou...not so much. I went and bought a coffee pot later on which Dave thinks is the coolest thing since sliced bread since you can pour a cup right from the pot by pressing it into the front of the machine. By the end of the day I actually had counter space for it too!

I talked to myself a lot today! I have a mini radio from the American red cross that I was able to tune into a few stations that played a mix of songs from the US. The first floor boxes are empty, yippee! The 1st floor consists of an entryway, guest bath, dining room, kitchen, and living room which is sort of 2 rooms...we were able to fit in the couch, 2 love-seats and 2 chairs with ottomans as well as 3 end tables! Now granted some of that will be moved upstairs when we have room to put it after the boxes are out of the way.

I spent the most time setting up the kitchen which is usually what I like to do first. It's been a bit of a challenge going to a kitchen that is probably a 1/3 of our last one and I actually did put quite a bit of storage away in KS too! I think it's pretty complete now and I can actually cook in it!

It was a pretty successful day unpacking and cleaning. I somewhat dread the upstairs because I have so much stuff that went in closets and now I have none...and I hate piles...so Tuesdays plan is to come up with a solution or just stare at it wondering what the heck I should do :) that seems to be pretty typical of me sometimes!

Dave got home and we had some sandwiches for dinner, watched a lightning and thunder storm and then went to pick up some groceries. There are 4 groceries in walking distance, Aldi's, Netto, Lidl and Wasgau. I found they're all quite similar but I'm sure in time I I'll have my favorite things from each place. Tuesday I'll cook up some Frischfleisch (also know as chicken :) and have salad with shredded Gouda....I love Gouda and was so excited to find it in a bag all shredded! Oh the little things. Dave got a new case of beer, not Hefeweizen this time, something else but he loves the big glass 500 ml bottles and you can take them back for a refund just like in NY. I got Coke Light and Reisling. The best part though, I drove the Beemer everywhere and I did pretty good! We took a nice long bike ride around the streets in town and rode by a neighborhood of all new houses. They are so different looking - so European!

It's getting late and I had a mini breakdown. We tore apart almost all the boxes upstairs looking for sheets to the bed, it looks like there was a paper war :). We found them at the bottom of a box in the bathroom under my stock pile of items the US It's late and I'm tired and I'm really feeling homesick. I guess that was the downfall of being with my family for a month. I cried every time I looked at my pics of Marley and Kensie today but I know they're happy with G'ma. I felt like I was on a remote island with no phone and no Internet and no one to have a whole conversation with. I heard a neighbor talking in English behind my house today so I walked around looking for her but didn't see her! I'm such a stalker. I'm a little nervous to try to talk to the other neighbors till I know a little German to get by, I at least say hello though!


Wednesday July 13
It's a gray day almost looking like it will rain...again. We have such a quiet neighborhood, lots of birds singing. I love that I can open all of the windows, although I'm afraid a bird might fly in sometime. Yesterday there were a bunch of flies and dragonflies :) but oh well no screens. Back to the unpacking grind.

Well it did rain...all darn day! At least I was able to stay in and get more unpacked and put away. I'm still struggling with the closet thing-lack there of that is. I did get creative with a shower curtain rod between our dresser and the wall though :)

Dave surprised me and was home for dinner, he was supposed to be with coworkers that are here from the states. It was nice that he came home thought because I was anticipating being home alone till night time! After dinner the rain died down and we took a walk around the Alsenborn side of town. We discovered a community pool type of place so I will have to get some info on that! And we found another bakery, DHL, 2 T-Moblie places and a few Bistro's we will have to try out.

Back to my book, The Help. Man is this a good book, I'm almost done I just can't put it down. It makes me think of my Grandpa working in Mississippi back in the 60's and he treated all the "colored help" equally. Sure not like how they were treated in the book!


Thursday July 14
SUN SUN SUN! It's great to wake up to sun, it changes my whole mood. I of course stayed up much to late reading but like I said before, I'm almost done! I think today is garbage day but no one has their containers out. When we walked last night I peeked into some other containers to see if I put the correct recyclables in there :) but it was hard to tell because they were chuck full. Oh well I've been bagging garbage and if it doesn't get picked up I will know I did something wrong and have to ask Dave's coworker who lives up the street!

I've got to walk up to one of the stores and look for a tablecloth for a little table that's in the kitchen. Currently there is a bright pink plastic one on there that doesn't really cut it with my red decor. I have to find a hair dryer and curling/flat iron too and a converter for the computer but I don't think I have enough €€€ for all that! I better take my German-English dictionary with me!

Well no luck on finding any of the above :( I did find a flat iron but had no room to carry it at that point because I bought groceries instead. I walked up to the Enkenbach part of town ( we live on the Alsenborn side) which took about 25 minutes, wandered into a few stores and then went to a Turkish Kitchen for some lunch. I felt safe with curry worst and pommes and it was pretty good. Basically hot dog and fries.

I did some laundry and ironing when I got home, trying to get our bedroom in somewhat order. I still don't know what any of the settings on the washer and dryer mean but things seem to be turning out ok :)

Dave picked me up after work and we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner with a large group of his co workers, both German and Americans were there. It was a lot of fun and....socialization for me! Desperately needed may I add. I talked with people I had met in Dave's office here as well as ran into familiar faces from Iowa, it was a good time. I even got roped into playing Foosball which they seem to be pretty obsessed about! They have a table right in their office in K-Town! We didn't get home till 11:00 which was fine with me but rough for Mr. Routine :). Oh well weekend is almost here.

One of the guys from the office let me borrow an Internet stick that I can plug into the USB for one gig at €7,99/week, now if he isn't my saving grace?!?! So now I HAVE to find that converter for the computer and that should get me by until our hook up happens next week, yippee!


Friday July 15
No luck on the converter in town so we will have to go to the big Mobile Mart on Saturday for that as well as some of the organization things that we need like a coat rack, bathroom storage, some type of closet rack, etc. We have to get our large garage shelves set up in the basement so that we have space to store all of the stuff that we brought that we are not going to use :) as well as use it for our own commissary with all of the things that I stockpiled before leaving the USA.

It was a really nice day, cool but sunny. I took a nice long bike ride around town today, unpacked some more, organized some more! We have an upstairs porch outside of the office that we set one of table and chair sets on so sat out there this afternoon and finally finished my book. Earlier I heard a cat meow outside my window so i went out to look for it but didn't see. Dave said that he's seen a black cat so I'm keeping my eyes and ears peeled for it :). I need my kitty fix, I miss my girls so much.

We went to the Greek restaurant for dinner, it's really good just so much food! The taziki sauce is sooooooo good I just eat it plain. I have to stop getting fries though, they come with everything i just need to ask for something else. When we got home we rolled out a huge map of Europe and just studied it looking at all the possibilities we have of places to go! Where to begin? Oh by getting Internet so that I can research...that's where! Soon enough. It really is amazing to look at how many countries there are in an area that is smaller than the US.


Monday July 18
Our 1st weekend has come and gone! We stayed close to home and did some more organizing around the house (this house is definitely taking me longer than normal to settle). We were unsuccessful in our hunt for the converters, we did find adapters but that won't help with the voltage. At Media Mart I purchased a cell phone with a sim card - which is a whole new experience for us! No plan, I can pay €9,99 a month for browser access because I did get an Android phone but I just really wanted it for the security of calls. It's .09/minute to call anywhere really so we didn't think that would be too bad since it isn't my sole line of communication. I just have to add € as needed.

We ate lunch at the top level of Mobile Mart where we were looking for closet solutions and found just basic rolling racks that will substitute as our closets for the time being. It works! That store is the European version of Nebraska Furniture Mart to me! I'm sure we'll be back in the near future, it's right behind Dave's office.

The weather Saturday was beautiful and Sunday was a rainy mess! It's been pretty cool for the most part here and I'm especially cold all the time. I think it's because we live in a stone house. For the middle of July I'm wearing an awful lot of jeans and sweatshirts! I don't think I would be back in KC where it's 100 degrees! I'm kind of glad I'm not in that heat! I'll take my cool days here :)

I think I have figured out the garbage and recycling. We have all these different bins and yellow "Gelb" sacks so Dave found a site that explained all the things that you can put in each one and since I had it wrong before I did some garbage picking....omg....that's the last time I will go thru my garbage. I sorted out everything as best I could but when I opened a bag that had maggots crawling around in it I was done. I will just do it right from here on forward!

Sunday we went downtown K-Town to meet one of Dave's former coworkers for lunch who is here this week. One place that we keep going back to is The Brauhaus and yesterday we had a perfectly English speaking waitress, that was fun! We got home and the rain let up so we took a nice bike ride and discovered some more little eateries in our 'hood. A little bit further walk than the Greek place right up the street but we will definitely have to try. I attempted to use the oven for the first time last night and cooked really really really well done pork chops, I threw some BBQ sauce on them to soften them up :). I really need to learn my Celsius conversions!
After dinner we watched the movie Knowing with Nicholas Cage and that was pretty good. Dave gets movies from his gym which is nice since we don't have tv :)

Well not too exciting of a weekend but it was only our 1st one! I'm finishing up my coffee and listening to the huge military planes fly overhead, they are really something! We got our large shelving set up in the basement so on to that project this am. Then I need to homey this place up and put some stuff on these bare walls!