Hmmm...Let's see what has been happening.

My last post was on Monday, March 1. A day of laundry- an act of love. We live on the second floor and the washers and dryers are in the basement. It takes two people to carry 5 loads of laundry down the stairs and back up again. Anywho...

Tuesday-Got my fitness on. 30 minutes of cardio and then I fel the need to run a mile. I don't know why or how since it has been so long since I have done that. I managed to run and not die. Small victory.

Wednesday-Mall. We decided to get out of the house and the mall sounded like a good place. A little walking, people watching, and window shopping. It was a cold, drizzly day so being outside wasn't a high priority. Victory of the day: I was able to walk after running a mile. Yay!

Thursday- Lenea and I signed up for another trip with the USO. This time we were headed to Speyer, a town named after the spires on many of their buildings. Spires are the pointy things that are normally the highest peek of the building; however, this steeple has several spires on the roof to reiterate the symbolism of how Speyer received its name.

This is pretty much the city center of Speyer. It was a pretty neat city, but there was nothing extraordinary about it. There were beautiful churches, but most European cities do. The landscape surrounding this city is pretty flat- no rolling hills or mountains in the background. I don't know. I just felt kind of blah about the city. Part of it could have been our tour guide, Carl. The fellow showed up 30 minutes late, which is rare because most Germans are very punctual. The greatest part was that we waited outside for 25 of those 30 minutes. Once he finally arrived we walked towards the train, which is actually a street car, for Carl to purchase our tickets. Of course the ticket machine was not working properly, so Carl had to continue fidgeting with it while our train came to our stop and rolled away. As the train is pulling away from our stop, Carl tells us that we are just going to have to wait for the next train. No Carl-you should have stopped fidgeting with the machine after we told you it wasn't working, so that we could get on the train. After that we had to wait another 20 minutes for the next one. Once we got on the train, we told the train director that the machine wasn't working, because if you are caught riding without a ticket you can be fined 40 euro on the spot. Yikes! If you alert the train director, then they must stop at the next ticket booth for you to get off and purchase a ticket and get back on again. Most people just gamble and ride without a ticket if the booth is not working. It is an odd feeling to have an entire train waiting for you to buy a ticket to ride.

This view is on the other side of the previously shown steeple.

Speyer's walking district. They had some stellar shopping, but Carl restricted us from the shopping. He told us we had no time for such frivolous things. Whatever.

This is a side street from the main walking district. The shops looked so cute and quaint. I just wanted to look Carl. He made me want to stick my tongue out and say "Nanner nanner!" while making moose ears with my hands (spreading your fingers out with your thumbs touching your head, waving your hands backwards and forwards-does that make sense?) After taking this picture I had to spead walk to catch up with him. He was not going to wait.

Traditional woodwork on German housing. Of course the downstairs of the old housing has now been turned into businesses on the walking district, but the upstairs of these buildings now act as apartments. Apparently the old woodwork is a fire hazard, which is why it is only seen in towns where the original structures remain. If one of these old buildings catches on fire, the fire will spread rapidly to the next building because the paint and wood is highly flamable.

Pretty building. I am sure it is a government building of some sort. It looks very official.

This statue is Jacob the Pilgrim. His staff was to protect him from enemies, while his cloak and hat were to protect him from the elements. My explanation took about 1 minute, while Carl drew his explanation out for about 10. He was a long winded fellow.

Another steeple :)

Several of the churches in Speyer are under renovation, so we frequently ran into structures similar to this. I did not take any pictures of the insides of the churches because the lighting is never quite right. Also, I end up focusing on my camera and how I can capture the beauty of these glorious structures instead of just sitting and letting my mind soak it all in.

Fun artwork along our adventure.

Germans are crazy, hence the random bird sculpture.

This tunnel simply led to a courtyard behind the buildings, but I liked the look of it.

The two small pillars were located inside the tunnel. At one time they were used as mile markers.

Slowly, we stared walking toward the Jewish quarters of Speyer. We were supposed to see a Jewish Museum and Roman bath. Naturally both were not open for our tour, so we continued to walk through the Jewish quarter until we arrived at the next church. Thanks Carl for looking into that.



At one time this building was home to one of the bishops of Speyer, but times have changed and it is now a museum.

Sorry for the crazyness of the lighting-the sun was not cooperating. :) This is a large open area in front of one of the main Roman Catholic churces in Speyer.

Another view of the open courtyard area in front of the church, which is standing on the right of the picture. Here is the crazy part of this... the small concrete pillars act as gardrails to the road. There are no lines on the road, just the small concrete pillars. This wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't a two lane road. There are cars going in both directions. I don't think I could drive on this road with having a near heart attack. There are so many things to look out for-people walking aimlessly into the "road," cars coming from the opposite direction...No thanks.

More of the courtyard in front of the church. Can you find the road? It is kind of like a where's Waldo.

The doors to enter the church. The left side has a dolphin on it and the right side has a lizard. I have no idea what the meaning is behind those animals and Carl would not stop to answer us either. He was on a strict time schedule. We entered the church hoping to find a refuge from the cold, but this was not the case. All of the stone on the outside of the church made it mighty chilly inside. Heating? No way. I couldn't imagine going to church and sitting through an entire service all bundled. Wow. I know. Spoiled American.

Finally it was time for lunch! We stopped to eat at an Italian restaurant. There is Italian food everywhere!

It was cold, so the little Italian chef/owner pulled Lenea over to warm up behind the counter. He kept flirting with her all through lunch. It was cute. He would come over and dance with his apron in front of our table, and make sure that we had everything we needed.

Our group starting from the top left: Lenea, the Italian chef/owner, Diane (I am so jealous-Diane lives in Ladenburg, possibly my favorite city so far), and Carl the tour guide. Bottom row: Me and Jacky (She is a sweet girl that I met on the tour to Weinheim. I think we are going to be friends.)

Hey look! A church :)



Across the street from the previous church is this beauty. This church was truly breathtaking! As we were leaving this church, the organist began to practice. The sounds of the organ were amplified in the high ceilings and bellowed through the cathedral. It was lovely.

Looking up at the spire of the church from the sidewalk.

The entrance of the church is located just behind this statue.

After this church we walked back to catch the bus to the S train to arrive back at Mannheim Hbf and then home. Lots of public transportation on this trip which is cool to be able to see how everything connects. What was even better about the trip home is that Carl told us where to sit. Hah. No seriously. He pointed at a seat and individually directed us to sit down like little kindergarteners. He was a little controlling.

Friday- At night we were supposed to have a Hail and Farewell with Paul's unit. This is when a new soldier is introduced to a unit and another soldier leaves the unit. It was cancelled Friday morning and rescheduled for a later date. I was kind of excited because this would give us a chance to put a face with some of the names that we hear Paul talk about. Instead, we ate Greek. Not too shabby! After dinner we were thinking about going to see Alice in Wonderland. It was supposed to be playing in English at one of the big German movie theaters. After dinner we headed to the train to ride it into Mannheim, but we just barely missed it by 2 minutes. We don't know how to drive to the theater in Mannheim, so the train is our only option. The next one wasn't for another 25 minutes, so we decided to jump in the car and see if it was playing in English at another movie theater that was closer to the house. It was not playing in English, so we missed our night of movies. Instead we came home and watched The Unit on DVD. I really like it. It does a pretty good job of showing what it is really like in the army, and I like war-type action. Sitting on the edge of your seat and waiting to see what is going to happen next. There is nothing more surprising than the human element. People are crazy.

Saturday- Woke up to newly fallen snow. In the matter of an hour it was an all out snow storm. It was coming down so thick you could barely see! We decided that if we were going to enjoy any part of the day outside of our apartment we better get out while there was still sunshine. We found a pizzeria to eat at. It was yummy! Then we raced home, because I had a skype date with Kristi. I love skype! It is a phenomenal way to keeep up. It is just hard with the crazy time difference. It seems that Saturdays are the easiest for most people, but Saturdays are the times when we try to get out as a family and enjoy this beautiful country.

Sunday- We went to Ladenburg! Oh my goodness! I got the same feelig touring this town that I had when I was walking through Weinheim. I loved it! Cathy made reservations for us to eat at this restaurant. When translated, Die Kartoffel stands for The Potato. Now you can understand the need for the ginormous potato on the sign :)

Inside of this stellar restaurant. This was a private dining room downstairs on the way to the restroom. Very authentic.

Us after eating our wonderful meal! The woman sitting next to me is Cathy, the dentist from the Mannheim clinic who tried to set me up with one of her colleagues. She is fantastic! We kind of giggled about the mix up with the dentist. She understood why I was not interested in him, and said that she had a patient she thinks I would like. I am a little skeptical, so I shallowly told her that I would like to see a picture first. I know it is what is on the inside that counts, but I think you need that initial spark. That holy tolito moment where you get butterflies in the pit of your stomach. All of the fun, silly stuff. Anywho...I am not sure how it will go, but you can be sure I will post something about it :) More about the restaurant... you cook the meat on hot stones. You are served a large chunk of meat on the stone with three dipping sauces. One is a garlic sauce, one is a mustard/dill sauce, and I don't know what the other one was. It was red and kind of sweet. Prior to the meat, you are served a mixed salad followed by a baked potato overflowing with sour cream. Yummy!

After our meal we toured the city some more. I am not really sure what happens in this building, but I love the boldness in the yellow. The woman laying on the wall is reading. Ladenburg was filled with random statues and sculptures. It was very unique.

Look! A water well! Of course it is no longer in use today, but it looks pretty cool. That counts, right?

More of wallness, but this wall is covered with beautiful green ivy. The tower in the background is a watchtower. I love that all of these cities are so stinkin' old!

This wall surrounds the city; parts of the wall have crumbled, but a large majority of the wall still remains. Sorry for the glare. It was actually a really sunny day. Don't let the sunshine fool you. It was bone chilling cold. The wind would pick up and take your breath away.

Another thing I liked about this town was the random sculptures. This fellow is bending over holding a rope into the well. What you can't see from this picture is that the rope he is holding is only about 6 inches long.

Once you get off of the main roads leading to Ladenburg, the concrete becomes cobblestone. I love walking on it, but driving on it is a different story. It is like driving over tiny potholes. It makes your brain shake.

I just loved the awesome rose color of this wall. After seeing all of the wonderful colored buildings in Germany that seemed peculiar at first, it is going to be weird to see such blah colors in the states. Also, all of the windows have shutters in Germany. They are either wooden shutters like these below, or yucky metal ones that slide down over the windows. These are definitely the better of the two.

After this point in our adventure my camera died. Boo! If you would like to see more pictures from this gem of a city, there is a link on my facebook page. Cathy very kindly shared her pictures with us from her kodak gallery :)

Monday- Well originally we set off to go to the big PX in Ramstein to look for a Chi. Ours is on the fritz, and slowly dying. We looked at the PX on post and they were sold out. They only ship 3 at a time, so they don't stay on the shelf for very long. We thought Ramstein would be a good place to go because they pretty much trump any selection we hav at our PX. Lenea and I drove Paul to work and hopped on the autobahn. Of course it took us 45 minutes to realize we were headed in the wrong direction. I know. Ridiculous. The great thing about Germany highways is that exits are few and far between. We had to continue driving in the wrong direction for another 15 minutes before we found an exit. Once we exited, we traveled down another freeway comparable to 290 once you get out in the boonies. We drove down it a little ways until there was a privet drive for us to turn around in. Finally, we managed to head in the right direction. The ironic part is that the right direction was also back towards Mannheim. After 2 hours in the car going nowhere, we decided to nix the trip to Ramstein which is an hour past our house. We then headed to the mall thinking that we could go to a department store and buy a Chi off of the shelf. Nope. No Chi to be found in the entire German Mall. Not a single one. Then we came home and ordered one off of Amazon.

Tuesday (today)- It has taken me about 2 hours to upload all of these pictures and comment on them. This, my friends, is an act of love. I enjoy doing it once I hear about how much you guys are enjoying it, but sometimes it is a bit of a task. I can only imagine what it will be like once I get back from my trip next week. I will have so many pictures for you guys! I am not quite sure how I am going to do it yet, but I will get them to ya'll somehow. Tomorrow Lenea and I will be leaving for Amsterdam on the ICE, which is one of the fastest trains in Europe. Giggedy giggedy! I am pumped! I will then meet my girls on Saturday at the Amsterdam airport. We will stay a couple of days in Amsterdam, then head to Berlin on an overnight train. I think I have booked us our own compartment, but we will have to wait and see. The wording is kind of funny on some of the booking sights. Worst case scenario we will just have the reclining seats on the general train compartments. From Berlin we will fly RyanAir to Frankfurt. We arrive the night of March 17 and will stay the night in Frankfurt. The next morning Lenea is going to pick us up from Frankfurt and drive us back to Mannheim. I will show the girls my stomping grounds and possibly Weinheim or Ladenburg. In the afternoon of March 19 we head out on a train to Paris! I am excited because this is the only city on our grand tour that I have never seen. I am pumped to be revisiting all of the cities thus far, but Paris seems so grand. I go back and forth with my idea of the city for a couple of reasons:

1) You always hear about the dislike of Americans in Paris, and France in general.

2) I have heard it is a dirty city.

3) I have also heard that they try to scam Americans.

On the other hand, Paris has so much to see! I mean come on...it's Paris! Once the girls leave I will be headed back on the ICE to Mannheim, just me and my backpack. :) So excited!

Since it will be a while until my next post, I hope to be writing soon with good health and a happy spirit. Please continue to pray for my family...that God would show us how to love one another through the worst, and remind us to find joy in the little treasures in life. Ich liebe dich!!

The Windy Season

Friday- Earlier in the day I got to skype with some family. I was able to talk to Jordan before she went to school. It was western day at school on Friday, so she was all dolled out in a bandana, jeans, and cowboy boots. Her elementary school was having a western dance thing...remember that? You were partnered with someone from the opposite sex, and nearly had a heart attack because you had to dance with them. All week in P.E. you practiced the different westerdn dances. Then on Friday your family would come and watch you perform. Jordan was describing her dance partner to me and said, "I don't want to dance with that fool." Well okay then. Aparently she had to teach her partner a few tricks, because he was not rythmically inclined. Who knew our Jordan was such a dancer? Don't get me wrong. She loves the spotlight, but I didn't know she had dance moves. Her P.E. teacher pulled her and a small group of students out of her class to show some of the other students what the dance looks like. She was pretty pumped about that. John's parents came to watch Jordan, so I was able to say hello. Later on that evening Paul, Lenea and I, went to Muddy's Club. They advertised a New Orleans jazz band. Turns out it was a German jazz band that performed New Orleans style music. The singer is very well known in Germany and he has a stellar voice. We decided that he was a mix between Baloo and King Louie from the Jungle Book. He had the voice of King Louie and the body of Baloo. He would just stand there and snap and skat. I just wanted to give him a hug. He had that grandfatherly feel to him. It was fun and the music was stellar! The great part is that they would sing in English, but then between songs they would speak in German. The man who would introduce the songs would get up and speak, and then do a magic trick. It was so bizaar. We were dying in laughter because he would just stand up and speak in such a monotone voice, and then open a billfold that would burst into flames. It was great. Then on the way back in the train some stupid teenagers almost got into a fight. One of the knuckleheads was American. Go figure. It is people like him who give the rest of us Americans a bad name overseas. Yeesh.

Saturday- Ramstein! Ramstein is an air force base and it is so nice. There entire base was so much nicer than what we are living on. Aparently the air force always has nicer things. Grrr. Our downstairs neighbor was going and offered to take us with her. It is about an hour drive from Mannheim to Ramstein, and it is a beautiful drive. I would have taken pictures, but my tummy was too rumbly. It is a beautiful drive, but it is very hilly. I wanted to kiss the ground when we got out of the car. One of the reasons that Lenea and I rode with her is because Lenea has quit smoking! As part of her reward system for giving up the nasty habbit, she gets a treat for every 10 days without a smoke. She decided to get Polish pottery which is sold at the PX/mall on Ramstein. Our PX is Walmart, while Ramstein has a mall. She was a very happy camper!

Sunday- We had guests over for dinner to eat Chicken and Dumplings. Homemade chicken and dumplings. Yummy! We invited Frau Karen, the German culture teacher, and Cathy, the dentist who took the German culture class with Paul and Lenea. Frau Karen is a hoot. She does not hold her tongue, and will tell you how she feels. I love it. Cathy is so soft spoken, but so adventurous. She is going to be my inside guide to travel, because she has gone everywhere! I can't wait to pick her brain and make a list of the top places I want to see while I am here. :) It was crazy windy Sunday too. We had our windows open because it felt fantastic outside. Then all of a sudden the wind picked up and our windows were banging like crazy. It was so windy that B-B-Q pits were being blown over and trees were bending. It was intense! We were told that after winter the windy season starts. Oh joy. I just was spring! Some sun and flowers. Is that too much to ask for? I guess all of the not-so-fun weather will help us appreciate the good stuff.

Monday- Lenea and I are enjoying the beauty of today. The sun is out and shining, so we decided to go for a walk in the sunshine. Then we came in and started laundry. Another 10 loads down.

I wish there was a spell check option on this. Sometimes I start typing so fast that I end up leaving out letters in words, or mix up the order of the letters so the word is not spelled correctly. I miss the red squiggly lines that appear under words in a Microsoft Word document. I need those to say, "Hey! Look at me. You don't know how to spell." Then you right click on the word and it shows you a list of words that you might be trying to spell because you butchered the spelling so badly. All of this to say, please forgive my typos :)