Frankenstein (Frahnk-in-shtine)

Jeremiah has been working long hours at night on an ever-changing schedule. Needless to say, it's been hard on me, especially since I'm still adjusting to living here. He got a day off on Wednesday and was eager to spend it with me on an excursion to Frankenstein!
We found the old castle ruins high on a hill, but had no idea how to get to them. So, we parked at the base of the hill and wandered around. It was soon apparent that it would be a hike to the top! I was in a really good mood and excited to try out the trail. It led us past a church and cemetery, then made a Z to the top.
The trail was really cool! When the trees opened up, we could see the view of the little town. The trees became more dense as we climbed further, as if they were closing in on us. It's interesting to look at the picture (to the left)--it's like someone drew a line where the light ends and the darkness begins.
I snapped a panoramic picture to try to show how beautiful the view from the path was. (In the panoramic pic above/right,--the castle is at the top left, church is in the middle [its spire is barely seen], and cemetery is bottom/middle). As we got closer to the top we could see, along the trail, where the old walls used to be.
The hike wasn't too strenuous and we soon made it to the top! The view was breathtaking! I love the old castles here. It's been really fun for Jer and me to discuss how the layout might have been when the castle was functioning. Es hat Spaß gemacht!


view from the top----->

Walking Tour

I took a walk yesterday evening and Jer joined me for another earlier this evening. I snapped a few pics to show some interesting things about where we live.
This first picture is looking down the street from our townhouse. It is very common in Germany for cars to park on the sidewalks because the streets are so narrow. It is a law on narrow streets that if there are vehicles driving towards you and there is a car parked on your side of the street, you have to stop behind the parked car to allow oncoming traffic to pass first. In this case, where the street is much too narrow for 2-way traffic and cars are parked on both sides, is it a courtesy to pull to the side wherever you can to allow the other vehicle to pass. Sometimes this is impossible. Thankfully, drivers here are very courteous and look ahead to see which vehicle can find room to pull over. The scary part is when a tractor or truck is coming!
This second picture is an example of a common intersection. This is a 3-way intersection. Note the mirror to the left. That is so you can see if there are any cars still coming when your light is green. There are a lot of blind corners and a lot of mirrors at intersections. Buildings here have been around a very long time (even hundreds of years!), and roads were built around them much later.
There is another law here that structures must be kept up in their original condition. Even old, dilapidated gates used for horse and buggy must remain with the structure. It is interesting to see how they get around such laws. Here is a picture showing the old, brick stones of one property, and the updated facade of another. Many houses have the formica-type, fake brick exterior put on top of the old existing one. I think they do it to make the property look more modern and well-kept. They keep their yards and house fronts nicely maintained. It's kind of a joke amongst the locals that you can tell where the Americans live.
This evening we walked straight down the hill to the main road. It's about 1km to the intersection shown above from our house. I wanted to show how narrow the sidewalks and streets are here. There is only room for two people if we walk single-file. You can see a step from a house protruding onto the walkway. Sometimes, like in this picture, the building juts out, but the street doesn't curve around it (because of the buildings on the other side). That's when the sidewalk all but disappears! It can be a little scary when there are cars right around the bend driving very close to the curb!
We have had gorgeous weather the last few days. We enjoyed strolling around the town so much, we decided to stop at a little restaurant for dinner before heading back home. We've eaten at many restaurants since we moved here (I just can't say it enough: Germans know how to cook!), and I've noticed items on the pizza menus that I wouldn't see back in the States. A few examples: broccoli, tuna fish, fried egg, peppercorn... I decided to allow the customs their influence and added a fried egg to my pizza. I like pizza and I like fried eggs, so the outcome just couldn't be gross! Besides, it's Germany and I absolutely trust the chefs. (Some may wonder--that is turkey salami on mine). Jeremiah ordered the spaghetti pizza and added olives. (On a quick side note, the Scheuffeles LOVE olives!) Pizza is eaten with a knife and fork only--they do not precut it. Dinner was very delicious, as expected. We liked it so much, we would both order the same thing again. It's a little odd to think of at first, but so tasty! Who'd have guessed?
We got a couple of ice cream cones (even the ice cream tastes better here!) to enjoy as we walked home. Soon after leaving the restaurant we heard the church bells ring. I love their musical chime. What a wonderful, beautiful day to be in Germany!

This year in review (part 2)

The week after we got home from skiing, we had an adieu rendezvous with our friends, Matt & Christina, at The Melting Pot. We are very fortunate that Matt & Christina also got orders to Ramstein AB. They left about 2½ weeks before we did (and you will see them in pictures from my older posts). We all LOVE to eat out at yummy places (including hibachi), and we needed to have one last eat-out before we all left the US and all its wonderful American restaurants. There was a couple sitting across the aisle from us who kindly, upon leaving, gave us a melting pot picture frame for the pic they saw us take (I plan to put this pic in it). Matt is a hilarious person--he cracks me up! This pic is SO "Matt".
That next weekend I went up to D.C. for Sisters' Weekend. I look forward to this every year when Julie, Emily, and I pick a town/hotel and shop, eat, watch movies, and basically kick it for the whole weekend. This year we decided to stay at Emily's new apartment and tour D.C. We explored the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which we thought would be a snore, but we were happily wrong! I'm not typically into modern art, but Duane Hanson's piece, "Woman Eating" deserves some kudos. It got so much attention from us that other people in the museum wanted to look too! We had a lot of fun snapping pictures and a security guard came over to see what all the ruckus was.
It was a cold winter's day outside, but we managed to pack in a lot of sites. We also toured the Pentagon Memorial, which was very humbling, the American History Museum, where we saw Old Glory, and the Spy Museum, which was very long but interesting and entertaining. I enjoyed each place immensely (and the subway too)!
After walking around all day we were really hungry! Thankfully, Emily had made reservations at The Melting Pot (you can never eat there too much)! YUMMY! Their food is so delectable and I was with good company so it was easy to have a great time. We laughed, ate, and snapped more pics. I love my sisters.
When the weekend came to an end, Julie's husband, Steve, met us with the kids for dinner. It was nice to spend a little more time with them before saying goodbye. I love my nieces and nephews so much. They make me happy.
Some more highlights: 1. The next weekend my coworkers had a surprise going away party for me at Uno's. I really like the girls I worked with and I miss them. 2. Our friends, Jon & Briane, FINALLY got hitched. It's about time! Hopefully we will see them next year at their reception/ceremony in Alaska (she just got orders there!).
After another week or so, we finally left Langley AFB and drove up to Emily's to stay the night. Our flight was out of Baltimore. It was nice to see her one last time. Jer and I picked her up in D.C. from work and we drove most of the way to Baltimore (traffic!). We had about an hour to kill so we went to the mall where, coincidentally, I first went out with Jer when he was in the Army. We ate some good grub then Emily dropped us off at the airport. One last opportunity for a snapshot of the 3 of us!
Our flight wasn't as long as I was expecting. We arrived at 11:00am local time and there were Matt & Christina waving at us through the glass windows!
So started our adventures in Germany. Zippity!

This year in review (part 1)

Most people wait until the end of the year to review what has happened. For us, there have been so many happenings and new changes that I've decided to dedicate two posts to cover it all.
We had a great Christmas and New Year coming in to 2009. My whole family was together during the Christmas holiday for the first time in 10 years. It was great. I personally had a good Christmas as well. Jeremiah surprised me with a new wedding band. Now my ring is perfect! He is so good to me.
Soon after the new year, Mom flew back out from WA to help get the house ready to sell. It looked so good when we were done. She was the biggest help. We were so busy I didn't even think to take any pictures. I wish I could fly her here to help me unpack!
Before we moved out we had Julie & family and Emily come stay with us. It was Valentine's Day weekend, and also birthday time for my brother-in-law, Steve, and nephew, Todd. Emily and I had an excellent time decorating the house with Happy Birthday banners. It was a great surprise party and each got his own birthday pie. The coolest present though was to Todd. He got a Monster Jam ticket! The next day (after surprising the other kids with Valentine's Day goodies) we bought earplugs and ventured off to see monster trucks in action!
Just over a week later, the movers came and packed us up. They put our boxes and stuff into crates then nailed them shut. We had so much stuff they had a trailer attached to the back of the semi! The motorcycle went back there. All that stuff and we were still quite a bit under our weight limit. Whew!
The night we moved out of our house, we moved into our friends' (Brian and Amanda) house. We were exhausted! We went to bed early but had to wake up before dawn for our ski vacation! The four of us carpooled all the way to Mass., stayed the night at another friend's house, then headed further north. I never knew the East Coast had mountains, but we found a great snowy one in Maine! We stayed in a condo for 1 week and skied our hearts out. It was such a fun time and a great way to play before we headed to Germany. Next year I hope to post pics from the top of the Swiss Alps!

Trip to Trier

A couple of weekends ago we took a day trip to Germany's oldest city, Trier, founded by the Romans in some year B.C. Germany loves windmills, and there were plenty to see along the way.
The first thing we came to and explored was Porta Nigra. It was really cool! There were original, ornate, religious carvings engraved into the sides of walls, now protected by plastic casings. Their age shows as men's heads have fallen off, and the inscriptions are almost illegible (and in another language). Check out the view from the top!
After hitting the gate, we wandered around the square, went into St. Gangolf Church (the church's spire is seen in the middle of the picture), bought Italian ice cream cones, and ogled at (and bought) souvenirs. I have a favorite vendor. She sells cuckoo clocks, dolls, maps, postcards, steins and mugs, and other very cool German treasures. I bought a very small, cute cuckoo clock. I have started my collection!
Later we went to the oldest church in Germany, the Trier Cathedral (the church on the left in the above pic). If only there were a way to describe the detail of the ceilings, walls, buttresses, carvings, even the floors! It was the most beautiful church I've seen. And it's not just a church: it also hides secret lairs--there are passageways everywhere. We eventually found ourselves in a cemetery courtyard, then under the main floor of the church for more carvings, graves, and worship places. I have so many pictures, I'll only post a couple of my favorites (and I know my dad will love the pipe organ!).
After the Catholic church, we hit a Protestant church called Aula Palatina. Although it was beautiful, it didn't have the same feel or look as the Trier Cathedral. It was one HUGE room. Because my pictures ended up being too dark, click here to see what it looks like inside.
We passed the Palace of Trier (picture to the right) on our way to the last stop, the Roman baths. Not to kick history in the pants, but at this point, the best thing about the baths was this: The Great Roman Foot (I named it). We lucked out with perfect weather for our first trip away. We had a great time and took way too many pictures to know what to do with!