We have a house

We looked at a house on post yesterday and got the keys today. It's actually a duplex - 3bd, 2 1/2 bath. We have several playgrounds surrounding us so Macen will be thrilled. We will start living there either Thurs or Fri. Our household goods will be delivered Feb 3rd. Little by little, life is returning to normal.

Nuernburg

This weekend we took the train from the town of Vilseck to Nuernburg. It took about 50 min to get there and was pretty inexpensive for the 3 of us to get there.

Here is Macen waiting for the train to show up. He loves trains so he was very thrilled to be getting on one.

Macen staring out the window and taking in the scenery.

This is the outside of the train station in Nuernburg.

This is the pretty much the center of the train station inside. There are lots of shopping and eating opportunities inside the station to include a Claires. And James discovered a bathroom where they charge you to pee. And he needed to pee, so he paid :) From the time we stepped outside the train station we saw massive amounts of police, ie polizei. Not only were they everywhere but they were in packs so it was slightly intimidating. Apparently, there was a soccer game that afternoon and they were there to control the crowds. There were groups of people drinking all over the train station with some getting rowdy with songs and chants. While we were waiting for our train, we saw a very large crowd walking thru the station with polizei basically escorting them wherever they went. I really wanted to get a picture of a pack of polizei but I thought I would get in trouble and I couldn't ever get a good picture of them walking away. So just picture what you see on tv when there are police everywhere trying to prevent a riot and that is what it looked like.

We went inside this Aldis and came out with some chocolate :) It was actually a brand of chocolate sold in the US Aldis. The only other brand I recognized there was Reggano. It was pretty small compared to some of the other Aldis we've seen. We walked down the street in front of the train station to a bunch of stores kinda like an outdoor strip mall. We did find a mini mall so we enjoyed exploring that. It was round so it was basically up and down. At the center were excalators with about 5-6 stores on each level and atleast 5 levels to the mall.

We walked around some more and saw a lot of sex stores with plenty of large photos of topless women, I kid you not. Thankfully Macen isn't old enough to realize it but I'm sure we'll be doing some explaining by the time we leave here.

Oh I better not forget our bakery purchases this time. This bakery had some different items but we stuck with our favorite: pretzels and we also got a 2 serving slice of chocolate cake. Very good! At some point, we are going to have to stop hitting up the bakeries.

We also hit an actual German restuarant. Shantel had the goulasch soup, and James had saurbraten. It was all really good and we will continue to explore the food opportunities as we get out and about.

Our living conditions

It has been just over 3 weeks since we "moved" into hotels. We're surviving and we haven't killed each other yet. Ha ha! I guess we can't complain much because we slept on an air mattress for 2 months prior to hotels. A hotel bed is better than an air mattress but we all know nothing is as good as your own bed. And it has been almost 3 months since we've slept in it. We are hoping to have only a few more days here. Macen is asking about every other day to go home. I know its hard for him to understand and we keep telling him we are getting a home soon to just bear with us a little longer.

We all want a home, including the cats.

The Chipmunks are Complete

Theodore has arrived from the United States! And Macen is a very happy camper. They go everywhere with us. We can't thank you enough Aunt Stacy.

Bowling

We took Macen bowling for the first time. And he loved it! He always took his turn, sometimes with a little prompting but I think with the exception of 2 times, he always pushed the ball down the lane himself. We played 2 games so that was pretty good for his attention span.

It's been awhile since James and I have been bowling so we enjoyed ourselves. I think we will be bowling alot in the 3 years.

It looks like the last part of the video was cut off but Macen was reacting very excitedly after the ball hit the pins.

Driving On The Autobahn

Not only did we drive down to Regensburg yesterday but we did it on the Autobahn. That was an experience in and of itself. The recommended speed limit is 130 kilometers an hour which is about 80mph. So I got out on the Autobahn and set the cruise control at 80 and promptly got passed like I was standing still on numerous occassions. You really have to be careful and watch your mirrors constantly. I was passing a semi and from the time I looked and cleared my mirrors and when I pulled out I had an Audi Q7 breathing down my neck. The rule of thumb to remember here is to stay right unless passing and get back over as soon as you're done passing and look at least twice in your mirrors. I'm actually glad we got the Edge instead of the Escape since it has a little more horsepower which allows me to stomp on it a little bit and get out of the way of those speeding Q7s. You know I wouldn't have that problem if Shantel would of let me get the Shelby GT500KR the dealership had on the showroom floor, I know I could of got a car seat in it. Of course if I had tried to get it I probably wouldn't still be married.

Regensburg

Today we became tourists. We left town/post for awhile to get out and experience more of Germany. Friends that use to live here recommended going to Regensburg if we got the chance. It's not too far away and since we are just hanging out a small room, we thought why not.

The trees here are different from the ones in MO and KS. As you can see the snow stays on the trees making it beautiful scenery. The picture doesn't do it justice and it was taken from inside the car. You also see the white/gray sky. Apparently, it stays that way for a good 3 months or so we've been told. The sun has not shined since we've been here. Dreary....very much so.

Here is some German homes in a little town we drove thru. I will post more pics in the spring when the snow goes away and the sun comes out. But the snow hater in me does see the beauty of the snow here. The Germans are great with clearing the roads and sidewalks of the snow and ice. It snowed here everyday for the first 5-6 days we were here and they were out every single morning even with it still snowing, clearing the way.

We went to IKEA!!!!!! I loved it and James said he was underwhelmed (it's his new word as of late). It reminded me of a Crate and Barrel store a little but less expensive. Very contemporary items. I'm excited to get a house and then go back to furnish/decorate the it some.

This is the Historiche Wurstkuche or Historic Sausage Kitchen. In the summer time it is really crowded with tables out in front on the banks of the Danube. Today it was really crowded inside and we were lucky to get a seat. The food was really simple and really good, little wursts (sausages) served on a bed of saurkraut with a sweet homemade mustard. The wursts are cooked over an open fire grill on one half the restaurant and the seats on the other. James also had a weissen bier. A wheat beer that was a little different from an American wheat beer with more a sweet, citrusy taste.

Here are some buildings in the historic part of Regensburg. This is a view from the bridge over the Danube River.

James and Macen on the bank of the river right outside the restaurant we ate at. Macen has a fascination with rivers (and most bodies of water) so he loved watching the water flow. He also liked chasing the pigeons that were plentiful in the area.

Here is the Danube River.

Bavaria is a part of Germany that resisted the Protestant Reformation and is still very much a Catholic area. Many of the days off work are actually Catholic holidays. The Regensburg Cathedral at the city center is called Dom Sankt Peter or St Peter's Cathedral. It is beautiful! We didn't go inside but the next time we are down there, we will. Just imagine how beautiful it looks when the sky isn't gray.

ETA: I forgot to mention the bakeries. Germans love their bread and so do James and I. While roaming the streets of Regensburg, we found numerous bakeries and decided we needed to try it out. We each got a pretzel and James got a cinnamon roll and I got a chocolate covered domut. The pretzels were fantastic! Macen was even begging for one when we got back to the car. Of course he doesn't like bread but he held onto it and licked all the salt off it.