Embracing the Warm Weather

Lately it has been super sunny and warm here ("warm" by our standards is now about 55 degrees, haha) so we've been taking full advantage of the sunshine. Eric had a three-day weekend off work so we wanted to do something fun in the sun, and found just the ticket:

Kristall Palm Beach Resort!! (check it out at http://www.palm-beach.de/)

Eric had heard that the Army Rec Center was offering a trip to Kristall Palm on this past Sunday, but the trip was canceled because so few people signed up, and so we decided to go by ourselves. Eric drove the hour on the Autobahn (our first time!) and it was well worth the trip. It pretty much was just an indoor water park, complete with wave pool, indoor & outdoor hot-tubs, water slides, restaurants, saunas, etc etc. It was sooo much fun! I'm pretty sure we just laughed the whole day.

We were a little overwhelmed at first: not knowing they had co-ed locker rooms, not knowing where to change, not knowing how to lock the changing room door, not knowing how to leave the changing room, not knowing how to use lockers, not knowing how to get out of locker room. I'm sure we looked ridiculous. We ended up just finding other people wearing bathing suits and following them to the right doors, haha.

The place had so much to offer, and I'm certain we didn't even experience everything that was there. At least 3,000 people were swarming the place; sleeping under heat lamps, floating on inner tubes, and lounging in all sorts of different mineral pools. We saw our fair share of men wearing speedos (Eric, sporting board shorts, was the minority), almost all of which had nowhere near the body type necessary to pull off that small of attire.

Eric and I started off in the wave pool, and I don't think I've seen Eric that excited in quite a like time. He was jumping up and down along with all of the other kids. And kids were everywhere. Besides parents of toddlers, we were definitely the oldest patrons there. We then wandered into different pools and waded around outside and inside. The ceiling of the main area was a big glass dome, making the whole place heat up like a greenhouse. It felt so good!

Soon we found a group of kids (haha we sound so creepy) carrying inner tubes and followed them up a few flights of metal stairs to the top of a ride. We thought we were in for a "lazy river" type of situation, but were verryyyy wrong. No lifeguards, or anyone for that matter, were monitoring the ride, so groups of kids were all going at once. And not everybody had tubes. And it was anything but "lazy". It was by far the craziest tube ride I've ever been on. I felt pretty bad however, because around every turn I was taking out handfuls of little children at a time. I guess I couldn't feel too bad though, because seconds later a 200lb man (E Clark) would come tumbling down and cause such big tidal waves that I was certain kids were drowning under my feet. At one point, after my tube and I crashed into the wall/a child, one boy turned to me and yelled (surprisingly in English) "LOOK OUT!!!!! HE'S COMING!!!!". That "he", my husband, then came down the slide, yelling like a gorilla, while the tiny children and I could only watch in horror and try to get out of the way. Needless to say we only went down twice before we felt too guilty to go down again. I was just exhausted from laughing so hard, and we were both all banged up (I think our bodies were too long for the little tubes and narrow slide).

We only stayed another hour or so after that, after eating some cheese pizza poolside. Eric cruised back onto the Autobahn and we laughed back on our silly day. Upon entering Eschenbach, we realized the Eis Cafe (ice cream shop) was open for the season, and had no choice but to order a treat to cool down with in our little Bavarian town.

Below: Eric with his banana split and me with my chocolate-hazelnut soda! Sooo good!

We're Alive and Well

Well our Internet is FINALLY working...such a long & aggravating story on how/why it took forever. But it's up, which means I can finally continue bragging! Haha. So so much has happened since I last posted so I'll try to remember all the important parts.

We moved in on the 12th, just us and our suitcases until the Army brought us some loaner furniture. The Miranda's (remember how they've been helping us out?) really out-did themselves and brought us one of their TV's to use, sheets, pillows, blankets, and a microwave--even their car for a day! So nice! The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying our lovely town. We went to a pizzeria for dinner one night, and the döner place a couple more times too. Downtown is only about a 1o minute walk from our front door. We drank some great beer, and explored some of the local shops. We walked around the field behind our house (our backyard opens up to pure countryside with amazing views of the town) and played in the snow all by ourselves...so fun! This first photo is the side of our house!

From the field we can see the whole town of Eschenbach. There are 2 churches (can you find the steeple of one?) whose bells we can hear from our house! Our home is out of frame in the right-hand corner of the photo.

Above: Eric looking into the woods that are behind our house. There were animal prints everywhere and a little frozen stream. We can't wait to see this area once all the snow is gone! Below: Me trying to walk through the knee-deep snow. Our house is the last one on the right (we are one of the furthest houses out on that side of town.)

Here's a quick video I took on our walk (not super) but I like how Eric looks like a sasquatch..

Since we were together-in our empty home-on Valentine's day, we had to celebrate a little unconventionally. We went to the PX on the 13th, both sneakily picked out cards, and then bought each other a pair of shoes. On the 14th we opened our cards (surprise!!!!) and then walked into downtown, bought some delicious pastries and then to a flower shop where Eric bought me some lovely flowers. We then walked home and had a great day saying how lucky we were. Although it might not have been the most romantic V-day in the world, it was definitely our favorite so far. (Below: Downtown Eschenbach Valentine's morning)

Don't these pastries look great? Omigosh they were delicious!
Here we are! Thrilled to be in our Bavarian hometown!

On Monday, the 15th, Eric had the day off work and we got all of our household good delivered. It was nice having them move in all of our furniture-so hard to do with all of our stairs! The only problem was our 2 shipments got mixed up. We had sent a 1st (and smaller shipment) to get here early: our clothes, half our dishes, silverware, bedding, coffee maker etc. And then a 2nd (and bigggggg shipment) to get here a week later: all of our furniture, decorations, etc. But for some reason they came in opposite order so now our house is totally set up, but we have no extra clothes, and only about 4 plates (and all plastic silverware). So it's a little strange right now but our other boxes should be here sooner than later. (I'll post photos of our empty place in my next blog.)

I spent the rest of the week decorating, and redecorating. Luckily, the Miranda's helped us out even more: driving Eric to and from work every single day, and taking me grocery shopping more than once. So very generous! I plan on bringing them a thank-you note, flowers and cookies this week. I also had a lot of help from my new friend Christalin. She took the bus here from her base a couple times last week to help me hang things, clean, etc. It's been nice having another girl's opinion around here.

Eric and I also got a lot of information about school and financial assistance. He is starting his online classes very soon and has decided on Criminal Justice. He gets this all paid for, and the classes he's taken through the military count as college credits for him. He plans on finishing his BA while in the Army, then he can use his GI Bill to get his Master's when he is out. There are a lot of job opportunities for him with those degrees plus his military background: FBI, police, DEA, Homeland Security, etc etc. We also got information for my schooling, and found out I get quite a bit paid for as well. And there are countless more scholarships/grants I can apply for as a military spouse. I am super excited to get going on that. What's really nice is there is an option to actually take face-to-face classes here on base, as well as online courses.

Above & Below: Us enjoying some great beer at our new favorite restaurant!

All in all, our first week here went really well (except not having Internet!!) which brings us to this past weekend. Friday was a birthday party for a guy Eric works with, which was really fun, and then Eric and I went out for a little German dinner here in town. On Saturday the Miranda's picked us up at about 10am and drove us to the nearby town of Weiden. It was a 20 minute drive there and they showed us nearly everything that place had to offer. They brought us into furniture stores, clothing stores, hardware stores, restaurants, ice cream shops, grocery stores, everywhere! It was such a fun day, and we didn't get back til about 4pm that evening. Once we get our car we plan on visiting Weiden again soon. It was so nice to get a tour of the place-there were a lot of things we wouldn't have known about without the Miranda's help. Again, we owe them!

The past couple days haven't been too exciting. We have finally gotten to Skype a couple times, check our emails, etc. I took my driver's test yesterday, and passed--so now we are both ready to drive the roads of Bavaria! We get our car this week and are excited for the upcoming weekend! We are still having a great time here and feeling really at home in our new place.

Below: A few more photos of our new town.

Aren't the colors beautiful? They really love pastels here in Germany! The middle photo is the church closest to our house, and across the street from the little döner kebab shop.

Class Trip to Amberg

After much anticipation, and threat of the weather ruining our plans, our class still ended up going to Amberg yesterday at around 10am. We piled onto the bus and after about 30 minutes on a windy road, that left me feeling a little dizzy, we arrived at the base of Mariahilfberg Kirche, aka: Mary's Cathedral (pictured above). We walked up the steps and were all amazed at how beautiful it was on the inside.

This Baroque sanctuary was adorned with murals on almost every square inch, and each wall was more beautiful than the next. Originally this church had been used for pilgrimages, and each ceiling motif represents a certain part of this history.

From there we all went to lunch at a restaurant called Bergwirtschaft which was right at the bottom of the church steps. It didn't look like much on the inside, but the food was so tasty. Eric got the Rehmedaillion (venison medallions) with Kroketten (think of really fancy & fluffy tater tots). I got the Gebratenes Lachsfilet (grilled salmon) with boiled potatoes. Frau Ray (our teacher) had given us the food options days before, so we had plenty of time to practice ordering in German. You could tell we were all pretty nervous, though.

Everything tasted great, except for the side salads. Each person's salad was 3 tiny piles on 1 plate. One pile was shredded lettuce, one pile was sauerkraut, and one pile was shredded carrots. Everything had a vinaigrette dressing on it, but it was so saturated that everything was dripping wet--even the carrots. Out of all the classes, nobody finished their salad. I think it was just a little too different for us.

After eating, we piled back into the buses and headed to downtown Amberg. Like Nuremberg, Amberg also has remaining city walls around it's "old town". Parts of the wall even have bullet holes from the war, which you can see in the top left corner of this next photo.

(Above: St. Martin Kirche/Church)

It was another 20-ish degree day, so we went in and out of lots of shops to warm up. Eric and I started with heisse schokolade (hot coco) and from there went to a few different clothing/souvenir shops. It was actually a pretty fun afternoon. We will definitely be coming back to this area now that we know what it offers. It's also a lot closer (by train or bus) than Nuremberg. Note how many different colors the buildings are below; it seems like they love pastels here in Bavaria!

At around 3pm we all got back on the buses and headed out of Amberg, but first stopped at a grocery store. The teachers wanted us to get a feel for the differences German stores have so we are surprised if we frequent one later on. Mainly the only major difference was there aren't any bags/baggers (like I've written of before). Eric stocked up on some favorite German chocolates (you can see how overwhelmed he was in the photo below) and then we were back home by 4:30.

Like I said, we are anxious to head back soon. We feel like we love each place even more than the last, and can't wait until we have the visitors to show this place off to!

Our Second Trip to Nuremberg

(Above: Shöner Fountain--"Beautiful Fountain" and Church of Our Lady)

Today we decided to take another trip to Nuremberg, now that we have a better idea of the lay of the land, and also know some basic words & customs. We grabbed a taxi to the train station at about 11am and we were off!

The train from Vilseck to Nuremberg was actually pretty entertaining. From what we could tell, there was some sort of sporting event happening that day in Nuremberg--soccer?? So there were some rowdy (but fun) fans cheering and drinking on the ride. Then the second we got into the Hauptbahnof (main train station in Nuremberg) there was so much cheering and yelling that it was echoing down the tunnels. The station was a happening place! It actually put us in a great mood, even though we had no idea what they were even saying.

We then headed out into Old Town and took some photos, went into little souvenir shops (look at the cuckoo clocks below, they were everywhere!), and tried to find a place to eat. Our German classes have taught us the basics on food names and restaurant etiquette so we wanted to test our skills.

We decided on Paulaner Im Pillhofer (pictured below), a small restaurant that also has a Gasthaus (hotel) above, which I guess is pretty common here. It was a little nerve-wracking, but since we knew the basics (seat yourself, etc) we did fairly well. The menus were 90% in German, so we picked out items that we recognized from class and hoped for the best. I opted for Bratwurst and Eric got a pork dish with a potato dumpling.

We also both got Radler beer, and before you react to the description let me just say that it was delicious! Radler is actually very popular here in Germany. It is half beer and half lemonade (lemonade in Germany is actually more like Sprite). What it does is makes the beer taste super light, very refreshing, and really sweet. It tasted like a much sweeter, less carbonated version of Ginger Ale. If that's not too confusing. According to Frau Ray (our German teacher), Radler was actually created because German bicyclists wanted a refreshing beverage to drink while they rode, but also wanted something alcoholic. And thus, Radler was born! Seriously though, we both were shocked with how great it tasted. Neither of us are beer drinkers at all, but now we are hooked. (Below: The delicious Radler!)

After the meal we shopped til we dropped. Well I shopped, and made Eric carry my backpack. There are dozens upon dozens of women's' clothing & shoe stores here, and everything was really inexpensive. I ended up getting a peacoat and a blouse. Poor Eric. Maybe next time it will be his turn, haha.

After about 4 hours in Nuremberg, we were frozen solid (another 23 degree day) and pretty exhausted. We hopped on a train...which ended up being the wrong one...then back on the right one, and ended up safely at home with plenty of time to Skype with mom & dad Holland.

Great day.

(Above: Us over the river Pegnitz)

And now, a couple fun facts!
1. Waiters and waitresses in Germany get paid very well and even receive full benefits. Also, the price of your food includes a gratuity for them. Therefore, most Germans hardly ever tip. We gave a Euro to our waiter and he couldn't have been happier.
2. Dogs are welcome pretty much everywhere here. We saw countless dogs around town, in clothing stores, on the train (without a leash!!), anywhere! But, the German people are known for being very punctual and law abiding, so their dogs are very well-behaved. I love it, so point out every single dog to Eric. Him, not so much.

Nuremberg!!

(photo: St. Lorenz)

Well we are home safe and sound from our first trip off post! This morning we woke up, went to the bus station at about 9am and took the (free) shuttle to the train station. The train ride was fast (about 45 minutes) but a little nerve-wracking once we got off at the Hauptbahnof (train station) and realized we had no idea what we were doing. The station was quite large: full of coffee shops, bakeries and stores. So we bought a map of the town and tried to figure out our next step.

It ended up being pretty simple. Hauptbahnof is technically in the "new city", and all the things we wanted to see were in the "old city". All we had to do was go through the city walls and we were in a giant pedestrian area full of historic buildings and unique shops and restaurants.

Bakeries were everywhere, and everything looked/smelt better than the next. It was only 20-ish degrees outside, so after walking around for a bit we stopped into one called Kamps and enjoyed!

Here's me with a hot coffee and a "kaffeestange", which tasted like a toffee bear claw. Eric had a "nougatstange" which was a bready strudel cookie. Great descriptions right?

There were also pretzel stands all over the place. So we of course HAD to purchase something there. Eric had a pretzel with salami and I tried one with brie. Both were very tasty. We sounded totally ridiculous ordering them though I am sure.

Another quaint thing about this area were all of the coffee shops and restaurants still had outdoor seating. They were just equipped with lots of wool and sheepskin blankets to keep warm.

We saw a lot of really great buildings and churches just in the short while we were there. Below is a side view of St Lorenz (Lorenzkirche) and the next photo is of An der Mauthalle.

And now, 3 new and exciting things about Germany:

1. There is a store, AND a magazine, named Brigitte

2. All the taxi cabs in Nuremberg were Mercedes

3. You have to pay to use public restrooms, but it's worth the cost! They are super safe, clean..and quite fancy!

First Adventure: Tomorrow

Well, we have officially decided to trek off post tomorrow! We are walking to the bus station at 9am, taking the bus to the train station here in Vilseck, and riding the train 1.5 hours to Nuremberg.

We both admitted to each other earlier this evening that we were nervous for this first little trip. I guess it's mostly just taking this first step into the unknown. We haven't lead the most exciting life here on post yet: walking to & from the gym, commissary and PX daily...so we know tomorrow will bring the first of many new experiences for us here in Germany.

Apparently Nuremberg has a few fun touristy things to offer. A castle, for one! But also the familiar: like a giant shopping mall.

So, wish us luck on this endeavour. Of course, I will blog ASAP about how our Saturday went. Until then...auf wiedersehen!

Oh! And now I have another favorite thing about life on post! When you go to the movie theatre, you have to stand for the national anthem before the film starts. I felt very patriotic and a little cheesey.