Rothenburg & Würzburg Christmas Markets

Hello! I decided to do a vlog, for several reasons that you don't really care about it. However, I was exhausted, between jet-lag and a long weekend trip, so I only went with one take. Please to forgive any errors or oddities. I say umm a lot. Enjoy!

Fambly Visit

This week the House was FULL!! On Wednesday, Brad and Debbie received visitors from Cadence Headquarters. Gene and Anne P., Carolyn, Matthew & Jill B. and their kids Eli and Emma all came to spend some time with Brad and Debbie and to see the House. On Thursday, my parents and Elisabeth arrived, effectively filling every bed in this whole huge house. Since I'm normally the only occupant of the third floor, it was quite a change to be running into someone every step I took, but having that many people here was pretty fun. We had to caravan our trips and used four tables for dinner on Friday night.

Having my family here was great! This was Elisabeth's first trip to Europe, and I'm glad she came this time. They were in Germany for almost 2 weeks before coming to visit me, and traveled all over. Thursday night, we had dinner just ourselves and Gordon, as all the others were out eating elsewhere. On Friday, we picked Justin up from the base and spent the afternoon in Idar-Oberstein, hiking up to the castles, eating Doener, shopping for gemstones, and enjoying some ice cream. That night was Bible study, led by one of the chaplains from post as a 'guest speaker.' It went really well, and it was cool having such a large group of people.

On Saturday, we piled into a wide assortment of vehicles and headed off to visit Trier. I have been there many times, but I still enjoy visiting, and most of the people had not been there before, or at least not for a year or more. We saw the Porta Nigra (an old Roman gate), the double-cathedral, Constantine's Basilica, and Karl Marx's house. I thoroughly enjoyed a bratwurst and brotchen, along with a mass of Pommes (french fries) with mayo, and some pineapple ice cream. I'm going to miss Germany!!

Sunday saw all of our visitors off, my family to go back home, the Cadence folk on to the next House. That afternoon we enjoyed more bratwurst and just relaxing and hanging out together at home. Justin had a new Wii game that entertained a number of people, some played Nertz upstairs, others of us enjoyed the ancient tradition of the Sunday Afternoon Nap. Dinner was grilled quesadillas and chips and salsa, followed by a short devotional reading from Brad, and trips back to the base. My last weekend at the Festaburg is now over...

One man's trash...

is often still another man's trash, too! At least at German flea markets. On Saturday, we caravanned a group of soldiers out to Homburg for what may be Germany's largest flea market. There are acres of stalls set up, and people sell quite literally everything. There are clothes, toys, cardboard coasters, hats, documents, records, music, books, glass and dinnerware, lots of (American) military gear, and many, many things that could be considered just JUNK. There are also food stands and ice cream trucks, which make it all better.

We walked around the place for a few hours, on one of Germany's few truly hot days - I have the sunburn to prove it! We found all kinds of random treasures. Nellie got a katana and a 10-inch, homemade knife. Justin found a WWII Nazi helmet. Angelica and Steven even found replacement needles for their old record player. Jonathan found a Chinese wall hanging, and while I'm not sure what all other people found, there was a very wide assortment.

I did not find anything to purchase, but I did enjoy trying on a very wide variety of hats, including the Nazi helmet, a gestapo officer's cap, a PC, and a silk top hat. I also got to try on an IBA (US Army issued body armor), and man...it brought me a whole new level of respect for our troops in Iraq. Not only is it heavy, and very hot, it's just dang uncomfortable. The one I tried on didn't even have the side plates in it, nor did it have any of the gear, or a weapon. Reason #574 why I am never enlisting in the Army!!

Wordless Wednesday - Burg Eltz

Rhine River Cruise

So, with Brad and Debbie back in the States, the Festaburg is being kept open by the amazing team of George, Rosie, and myself. Most of the soldiers are home on block leave, but there are several who've stayed in garrison for various reasons. So, yesterday, we took a group of soldiers and families on a cruise up the Rhine River. We left the house bright and early on what promised to be a beautiful day, and we drove to Bingen, where we caught our boat.

I've cruised up the Rhine before, from Rudesheim (which is across the river from Bingen) to Cologne, but I think this trip was more fun. We went from Bingen to Koblenz, about a 3 1/2 hour ride. The trip is fascinating, because there are castles everywhere you look. I'm not sure, but I'm guessing this could easily be the most castle-populated region of the world. There really are a ridiculous number. Some are ruins, some restored, some hotels, some museums, some still residences. The first time I went, I remember trying to snap pictures of every one that came along. This time, I was able to sit and enjoy the cool breeze and sunshine, go below to eat some ice cream and enjoy panoramic windows, and just have fun with my friends.
Once we got to Koblenz, we found a little place to eat lunch. I had a little shoe-drama, too. Before we'd gone 10 steps from the van in Bingen, my flip flop broke. And not being a normal flip flop, I couldnt' just push the strap back through, but rather walked barefoot to the boat, where Michelle fortunately had a sewing kit and I made a rough repair to last me to the nearest shoe store. Walking through Koblenz I saw flip flops for €3.95. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for, and they were awful. Yes, they were shoes, but hard plastic with wiry braid and just...owch. Blisters and pain!

We took a train from Koblenz back to Bingen, and then took a ferry across to Rudesheim to walk around some more. What we didn't expect was a massive biker convention to be filling the quaint streets of old town Rudesheim with the smell of hot motor oil and the rumbling of thousands of bike engines. It was packed solid, and nothing like the romantic little town I remember. After leaving, George managed to successfully navigate us back home, despite having no GPS and lots of confusing construction.

Once home, I thoroughly enjoyed washing my poor feet in cold water, putting on comfy clothes, and curling up on the couch with bags of popcorn to watch a movie with Justin before bed. Today, we've all enjoyed a lazy Sunday, full of sunshine and beautiful weather and Mario Kart. Life here is pretty good. :)

Frankfurt Zoo Trip

This weekend we took a trip to the Frankfurt Zoo with 23 people - lots of little kids! Train is definitely one of my favorite ways to travel, and the kids seemed to enjoy it, too, because they weren't constrained by seat belts and so could switch seats or stand up and walk around and have all kinds of fun. Sarah and her friend Sydney sort of attached to me and Mac all day, which was kind of fun. The zoo was actually a lot smaller than I thought it would be, so we saw all the animals within about an hour. Then came the downpour. Mac and Sarah and Sydney and I ran in search of cover and just so happened to end up under the same tarp as the rest of our group, whom we hadn't seen since arriving at the park. Once the rain stopped for a bit, we left the zoo and went to enjoy lunch at a rare and wonderful place - Pizza Hut! It was delicious, and gave us a chance to dry out a bit. (the waitress had looked at us askance as we came in dripping wet.) Once lunch was done, the four of us hung out by the fountain until it was time to meet everyone else, and we headed home. Well, we thought we headed home, but we were on the wrong train. But after that, we did head home and actually made it. :)

Woah...June is OVER!

Where did the time go? When I got here, I was kind of sad that Brad & Debbie were going to be gone for almost a whole month - so long without them! But now, they're coming home tomorrow and I cannot believe that the whole month of June is gone already. It's the Forbes' last night! I'm crushed. I'm going to miss them so much. I'm going to miss Blaire's talking in the third person. ("Blaire didn't hit her - that's good." "Blaire wants to pray!" "Blaire will do it.") I'm going to miss Graeme's mathematical mind and his cool lego inventions - but not so much the sneaky tickle-attacks. I'm going to miss Paige, who comes and curls up in my lap, or running-leap-hugs me, or drapes herself around me, or just cuddles with me. And Duncan and Suzanne!! They were the perfect couple to fill in for Brad and Debbie while they were gone. I'm really going to miss Suzanne - she reads my mind ;) and is so easy to talk to - about literally anything. I can't remember last time I made such a close friend so fast, or found such a mentor. That's definitely one I'm going to keep in touch with.

As for what's been going on here, let's see. This last weekend we went to a chapel-wide barbeque on post, then loaded up the van and headed off to K-town to visit Fred and Diane Stocks, who run the K-town Hospitality House. (K-town = Kaiserslautern) They took us to 'their' castle, which I have to admit is in some ways cooler than Brad's castle. It's all in ruins, but there are a great many random walls left, and lots of fun places to climb up in and play spiderman. There's even a dungeon! (Gated up, can't get in. Sad.) After that (oh, I do like Brad's castle better because I can sing in it, and the hike isn't as killer!), we went back to the K-twon House and had Chinese food for dinner. I think the funniest part of the afternoon was right after the hike, seeing all of our people spread out on all the couches and most of the living room floor - sound asleep. How nice of the Stocks' to let us come over and crash!

Let's see what else. Brad and Debbie come home TOMORROW! I'm excited - even though I'm terribly sad to see the Forbes' off. I'm driving with them to Frankfurt, chilling at the airport for a while (babysitting the van), then driving back with Brad and Debbie. This weekend we're going on a bike trip up the Mosel Valley - now THAT will be cool. The next few weeks may be sad, though, as some guys are waiting to deploy - again - and some are hoping to get orders even this week sending them back to the States. That's the sad part of military life - all the goodbyes. But the friendships are worth it.

A Wonderful Weekend

Friday
Friday night after Bible study, we finally hooked up the volleyball nets. We played four on four, me and Andy and Jonathan and Pedro against Duncan, Suzanne, Jeroham, and Kristen. We played until it was too dark to see the ball and the fireflies came out. (I haven't seen lightning bugs since last time I was in Michigan, and they make up part of my favorite memories, so I was TERRIBLY excited.) After we finally gave up (we lost too many balls over the fence), we went up to where Duncan had started a fire. Some of the guys had NEVER roasted marshmallows, so I took it upon myself to make lots of them. After people went to bed or back on post, Andy and I sat around talking and playing with the roaster-hanger and the poker in the fire, until the coals were out.

Saturday
Saturday we took a trip to Barefoot Park - 3500 meters of various things to walk on. The very first is mud. Slimy, cold, mushy-gushy-nasty mud. There was also a lot of grass, several wood bridges, a rolling-thingy, round rocks, flat rocks, sharp rocks, rocky rocks, wood chips, loam, a muddy water, a river, and a rope bridge. My feet hurt afterwards, but it really was a lot of fun. We had three other families go with us, and one soldier.
Sunday
Today after chapel, we went to a middle-ages-market thing at Kusel Castle in Burg Lichtenberg. (sponsored by the german army...?) It was a really warm day for Germany - 85 degrees and humid. We walked all around the castle and looked at all the little booths and their overpriced wares. We did get really good bratwurst and potatoes, though. After coming home and chilling (literally) in the basement to recover from the heat of the day (be quiet all you phoenix folk!!), Suzanne and Mac and I went to the theatre on post to see Prince Caspian. It's a weird theatre - the seating is flat, so all the kids bring booster seats so they can see the screen. We dropped Mac off at his barracks and came home to play around on our computers, trying to get all our various pictures and blogs up. And with that - I am done, and can go to bed!

Rheinfels Castle

So, today we took 6 soldiers with us on a trip to Rheinfels Castle. At only 1/3 of its original size, the castle ruins are still enormous. We walked around for probably 3 hours and I still don't think we saw the whole thing. Probably the coolest part was when we walked down into the mines. I do believe it may have been one of the bravest things I've ever done. While not exactly claustrophobic, I do not do well underground or in the dark. I have always refused to even go in the lava tubes at home. We toured some gemstone mines in Idar-Oberstein this week, and that was fine for me - it was open and well lit with a clear trail. These were very different. You climb down some steep, dark stairs into a pitch black tunnel about 3-4 feet high and maybe 3 feet wide. You can't go in without flashlights, because it is so completely and utterly black. I felt myself about to freak out, and Mac told me to turn back NOW before I lost it 600 feet in, cause you can't really turn around. But I went on! I had Andy's hand in a vice grip and clung to the light from Mac's flashlight. You have to follow the white lines painted on the ceiling, but there was more than one point where we stopped and had to consult the map so as to avoid getting lost in all the little side tunnels. It was completely terrifying, but definitely the coolest experience of the day.

La Ligne Maginot

or, The Maginot Line: a rather brilliant military installation designed by the French to prevent Germany from invading during World War II. It was basically a line of fortifications stretching from northern France all the way south to Nice along the German border, able to defend against any German onslaught. Unfortunately, Hitler decided to invade Belgium and enter France from the other side, rendering the whole ineffective, since the guns couldn't turn around the other way. Oops.

That's where we went yesterday. We went to Ouverage Simserhof, the fourth largest 'block' of the Maginot Line. Friday night we were sitting around discussing our options for Saturday's activity when Gordon suggested France, and a trip to the Maginot Line. Sounds interesting, only an hour and a half away - okay, let's go! So we did - and it was fascinating. I had never heard of it before, so it was a lot of fun to sit in between Brad and Gordon on the way there and learn all about it. We watched a movie about it in English, then took a tour on a train, with audio and video in alternating English and German. After that was over, we took a walking tour throughout the entire block with our German guide. (I got to be the translator - and I don't think I did too badly!) It was really very cool - much cooler than I thought it would be.

After the three hour tour, we drove another 10 kilometers to another block, one that hadn't been turned into a museum, where we could climb up top and see the raise-able (I know there's a better word in English, but it escapes me at the moment) gun towers. It was a lot of fun, and we had a full van. Poor Happy actually had to stay behind because there weren't enough seats. Debbie and Nellie were away on the PWOC retreat, so I was the only girl, which was pretty fun. :)

The rest of the week has been great, too. Wednesday night we had a record number of soldiers at the house, and Friday night was very large, as well. Mac had a four day weekend so he was here helping me clean and cook on Friday after Debbie left. Saturday was our French adventure and movie night, Sunday was church and a nice big lunch, followed by an afternoon of Catchphrase and other games. I played more chess this weekend than I have in the last 10 months, which was fun, even though I lost most of the games. And today, I laughed more with Mac and Nellie than I have laughed in a very, very long time, to the point where breathing was painful (or impossible) and smiling hurt. It was great.

And now I can say I've been to France!