Day Trip to France

There is a company on base that offers different types of tours all the time. One of the tours was called, "How to Ride the German Train." We have been wanting to take a train trip somewhere (esp. to Paris), but have been intimidated by the complex system. So, Christina and I signed up. They offer the tour every week, but it goes to different places each week. Luckily for us, we wanted to go to France, and that was the next tour offered!
Everyone met at the train station on an early Tuesday morning (Sep. 15). We learned how to read the train schedules, how to pay, different deals to take advantage of, etc. After we bought our tickets, we went to the platform. By the way, platform 9 3/4 was nowhere to be seen. We successfully boarded our first train and off we went!
The train ride was comfortable. The scenery was beautiful. We changed trains once, but made it to Wissembourg, France in 1 1/2 hours. We went on a tour of the beautiful town. I love learning about the history of the places we go. Much of Europe was destroyed during WWII, but most of this little town was spared. There is a small river that flows through the middle of town. Flowers were planted everywhere. It really felt like we were in a dream--quaint French bistros, les poisson (it made us start singing the song from The Little Mermaid), old, beautiful buildings dating hundreds of years, people speaking French... It was fantastic! During our tour we saw many school-aged kids walking around. They are let out for lunch for two hours in the middle of the day. I guess they don't serve school lunches. We learned of the Monk Otfrid who lived there. He is famous for his translation and compilation of the Gospels in rhyming German. We ended our tour at the convent and Gothic church.
Gothic churches are always so interesting to look at. The detail work is amazing! We were able to go inside. I've toured churches in Europe before, but this was the first time it felt peaceful inside. Christina agreed and we sat there for about five minutes enjoying the ambiance.
During our train ride, we met another girl, Alejandra. She is also an Air Force wife and very sweet. We had free time to eat and shop and she came along with us. It is normal for stores to close for a couple of hours in the middle of the day for lunch (even the tourist office closed!), so we decided to eat first. We went to a little restaurant that was recommended by the tour guide. Sometimes I wish I could just order things and see what I get, but because of my digestive issues, I can't eat red meat or pork so I have to be careful about what I order. I ended up with a salad with goat cheese. It was good, but I really wanted to eat Christina's quiche (it had ham). We enjoyed the atmosphere and the food though, and loved hearing the French spoken by other patrons around us.
Our first stop in town was to a chocolatier. We had high expectations and were not disappointed when we ate dessert in the little cafe. I love the pastries we get in Europe. They are not saturated with sugar, but have just the right amount to taste a little sweet. I think they are much better than the over-sugary sweets produced in the US.
When we were done with dessert, we wanted to buy some chocolates. It was a little difficult because we didn't know French, they could not speak English or Spanish (Alejandra is fluent), but they knew some German. So, in a language that wasn't primary to either of us, we tried to communicate with each other. We learned that the chocolates that were on display were for display only and they didn't have any in stock. We loved their desserts, but really wanted to go home with some chocolates. Boo! So, I bought a yummy dessert to bring home to Jeremiah (which he liked).
We toured the other shops and found many interesting things. We came back with a couple of souvenirs.
The weather was cool but pleasant. The train ride home was quick and when we changed trains, we had to stand because it was so crowded. Thankfully it was not the longest part of the journey.
My first taste of France was awesome! It was difficult to try to greet in French as my brain is wired for German as the foreign language. I know the basic French words, but I just couldn't flip the switch in my brain. I think when we decide to go again, I will be better at it. Until next time, au revoir!

Labor Day Weekend

The world is so big, it would be impossible to travel to each city in a lifetime. But sometimes the world seems a bit smaller, and old friends are found on the other side. Such is the case with my good friend, Evan. Evan is from Port Orchard, the town next to Gig Harbor, where I'm from. We've known each other for 10 years now. We both got married within months of each other. We both moved to the East Coast because of the military. He was stationed about 4 hours south of Jer and me when we were at Langley AFB. Evan and his family came to visit a couple of times. Then Evan called with the news that they were going to our dream destination: Germany. I was really jealous! But, a year later, we followed! We have been here for 5 months now(!), and have finally made the 3 1/2 hour drive to see them. It was a great reunion!
We left on Friday, after Jer got home from work. We were stopped at a traffic light somewhere near Mannheim where I snapped this picture. We never saw the advertised race car vs. motorcycle.
The drive was beautiful! In the last week the weather has changed from summer and shorts to autumn and sweaters. It is an even more drastic change driving east as the elevation is higher and the air is cooler. We drove down tree-lined roads where the forest on both sides was so dense, I couldn't see very far into them. It was really windy on Friday, and fallen leaves fluttered through the air and swirled around the roadway. Fall has come. We went from 80s to 50s in one week. Brrrr!
We arrived Friday evening and sat and talked for hours with Christina. Evan, unfortunately, had extra Army duties he was assigned last-minute, so we only got to see him briefly that night.
Saturday was their youngest son, Jacob's, birthday party. He turned 3. He had a batman-themed party, and I did the streamers. I did an awesome job streaming streamers all over the place. Jer helped blow up balloons. I'm scared of blowing up balloons, so I blew up one, but it was a lot smaller than the others. I cannot figure out why I didn't take any pictures! I'm ashamed of my picture-taking self!
Friends came over with their little kids and we had barbecue, cake, ice cream, and good times.
The next day was so much fun! We started the day by driving to Pottenstein. Seriously, this place was so cool! We started out at the cave. Once we parked (and the stubborn machine finally accepted my Euro coin and gave me a parking stub), we walked up the stairs to the cave entrance. It already looked cool, and the little boys were excited to be out of the car climbing stairs and exploring.
The tour started off with a 5 minute speech in German where I caught things like "30,000 years old" and "stalagmites grow 1 mm in 13 years". I also understood the explanation of how stalagmites are formed, but that is about the extent of what I understood. Mostly we just stood there looking around missing the punchline to something that made everyone else chuckle.
The cave was awesome! There were so many different stalagmite (on the ground) and stalactite (on the ceiling) formations! Some were even named (one looked like a wedding cake!). For me, the highlight of the cave's secrets was the cave bear. It is the weirdest-looking animal, and I'm glad such a thing does not exist now--or at least not where I live! There was also an old pile of bones found. Some of the bones were really big, so it's a little creepy to think about what was lurking in the dark for the cave's first spelunkers.
The cave's exit was at the back of the mountain. The land was just beautiful and we really wanted to hike around. We walked up the trail a little bit, but decided to turn around and go get something to eat. On the way back to the car we stopped to feed the fish (fish food for 20 Euro cents) over the bridge. They were huge! I snapped a cool pic of them and our shadows.
After the cave, we went on a bonus tour trying to find an ATM, then off to the tobogganing track! It looked like so much fun!
There were 2 different tracks to choose from. We all rode the yellow cars first. The cars sat on tracks. You controlled the speed by pushing the levers forward to go, and back to brake. There were no other caution brakes. Jer got going so fast around a corner his car lifted off the track. I was amazed at how fast the ride was. It was a rush! We all wanted to do it again. This time I asked the lady at the ticket counter which car was faster. She said the red was. Cool! As we waited in line again, we looked closely at the track and the cars sitting on top. Funny, there weren't any "arms" that folded around the track for safety. It really can just fly off the track if you go too fast. Scary, Jer!
The red track is separate from the yellow. The red works more like a luge than a track. I tried to get pictures while riding, but I was going so fast, it was either drop my camera and grab onto the controls (not to brake, of course! Just for balance) or fall out and get some serious skin burn on the metal then eventually crashed into. After the second time of failing to get a picture, I gave up. I was just enjoying the ride too much to bother slowing down for a picture. Thankfully, I'd stuck the camera cord through my belt loop, just in case. Glad I did!
We went home for a couple of hours, then the kids went to play at the babysitter's and the four of us went out to eat at a local fave. I love the food here! We all loved the food here! In Germany it is not expected to eat and run like in the US. Once you have a table, it is considered yours until you want to leave. This means you can be there for hours if you want. There are no dirty looks from the servers. Dinner is meant to be easy and slow. So, we stayed for a couple of hours. It was so much fun to talk, laugh, and eat with good friends.
We had to leave the next day, but I enjoyed myself so much, I'm sad to have left! Fun + food + friends = Good Times!