Spring Break and such...

March 10, 2010- Slept in to be well rested for our long day of travel. Before heading out I stopped by the education building to print out some of the travel documents to reassure some of our online reservations. Paul took an extended lunch break to take Lenea and I to the train station so we didn't have to walk a mile to the train station with our oversized backpacks stuffed to the brim. Thank God for Paul! We arrived at the train station at 3:20 pm and our train didn't leave until 5:35 pm. Can you tell we were a smidgen excited? For the next two hours we hopped from one train station cafe to the next. We hopped up on coffee and fruit from the outside markets. Delicious combo. At about 5:15 we walked to the train station platform to wait for the I.C.E train. I have no idea what those letters stand for, but I do know it means that our train is super fast. Only four hours to Amsterdam, and we packed plenty of snacks to make it on a full belly. While we were snacking a funny announcement came on. "Sorry ladies and gentlemen, but we are 1 minute behind schedule; we took off in the wrong direction." Really? A train can only go in two directions, forwards or backwards. Go figure we get on a train where the conductor can't find the right way to Amsterdam. Another two hours into the train ride and another announcement is made. Our train is experiencing technical difficulties, so we will be changing trains. First emotion: Panic. Second emotion: Calm. I must roll with the flow- it's an adventure. Upon exiting the train we must have had lost American plastered to our foreheads because several people stopped and helped us make it to the correct platform for the new I.C.E train to Amsterdam. OH! One big difference is that when they made the announcement, the Germans chuckled. They didn't throw a fit. They laughed. Their calm attitude definitely helped us maintain composure instead of freak out. Once we successfully found the new platform for our new train, we only waited 10 minutes and then we were back on our way to Amsterdam. It was the most controlled chaos I have ever witnessed. We somehow managed to find our hotel after arriving at Amsterdam Central Station in the dark, only to find that our reservations were lost. Through a series of events the hotel found the reservations only after they charged us twice for our room. Whomp!

March 11- We woke to find this ginormous head waiting to be collected by the trash. Yes. This was the view from our window. Once we showered and got ready for the day we walked to the train station to meet for Sandeman's FREE New Amsterdam tour. That's right...FREE! Our tour guide walked us all over Amsterdam for 3 hrs. It was wonderful! Our group was about 20 people from all over- Brazil, Canada, Phillipines, and the states. After the tour we walked to Boom Chicago, an improv comedy club that serves traditional Dutch food. Potatoes and sausage. It was yummy, but it looked very funny on the plate. Hmm..

The Ginormous Head. It felt like something someone made in art class with paper, glue, and a little paint.


Our tour guide, Amy. She was from Australia, so she had a delightful accent. She is standing in front of the Old Church in Amsterdam. Yes. The Dutch really refer to this as the Old Church. They are really original in their naming. This is the oldest church in Amsterdam, so naturally it would be called the Old Church. It is geographically located right next to the port, so that when sailors came in they would go to the red light district (which is about 10 ft from the right side of the church) and then come to the church to repent.

Down a random alleyway in Amsterdam. This is pretty much Amsterdam in a nutshell. Bikes, graffiti, and cafes.

Our walking group. I am sure that we looked totally ridiculous to the Dutch, but it was one of the best tours so it doesn't even matter how stupid we looked.

Fun tulips and a poster for tourists. The answer is no. We did not go to either one of the tours. Wax people freak me out, and the Amsterdam Dungeon is a ploy to conn tourists out of money.

This was one of my favorite little gems in Amsterdam because it screams Dutch humor. One night a random artist dug up some cobblestones to put this piece of artwork on display. It is refered to as "The Hand on Boob." It was taken out after only being on display for 24 hours, but the Dutch did not like this so they protested. After much protesting the art was put back in it's original location... around the corner from the church.

Canal. Amsterdam has canals running all through it. I love it!

Amsterdam is like New Orleans in that they are both tragically under sea level. This is the lowest point in altitude in Amsterdam.

More canals and bikes. Apparently it is a popular game to throw unchained bikes into the canals. It is a popular joke that the canals have three layers. The first layer is mud. The second layer is bike. The third layers is water. Every now and then they will scoop the hundreds of thousands of bikes out of the canals, send them to shops located on the outskirts of town to be fixed up, and then they sell them back to the poor folks who probably had their bike thrown into the canal.

This was a hidden Catholic church. Catholicism was shunned for a long time in Amsterdam, so 400 people would come to worship in this tiny building until they were allowed to worship freely in their own church.

This fun little cafe at one time was a place of discovery for young doctors. They would examine corpses and learn the ways of the human body. Now people come here to eat. Yummy!

Here is where things get tricky... the pictures of the Heineken tour were actually taken on March 13 when my girls arrived, but here they are on March 11. Go figure. The Heineken tour was very informative. It takes 28 days to make a bottle of beer. I had no idea the process was so intense. I mean it is just water, barley, hops, and yeast. Four ingredients and they take a month to process. Yeesh. Anywho...these four ingredients are turned into the magic known as beer. Mmmm! Heineken is so much better in Amsterdam than in the states. With your ticket purchase you recieve a wristband with two tokens attached to it. Each token is good for a free drink at the end of the tour. This is a picture of the brewery with little tourists sprinkled in the mix.

I don't know what these do, but I thought they looked cool.

This yummy mixtures is made up of water and barley. It is surprisingly sweet with a bitter aftertaste.



Back to March 11...

The yellow cylinder with a cone on the top at one time was a free public restroom for women. The key word in that sentence is free. Free toilets do not exist in Europe. Lucky for men, they can drop their trousers anywhere. Not women. It is a highly skilled process that must be done with accuracy or you will pee on yourself. The Dutch women thought this was outrageous that they had to pay every time they wanted to pee so they protested. This was no ordinary protest. They met on a bridge, lifted up their dresses and peed. The women threated to do this on every bridge in Amsterdam if they were not given free public toilets. Since Amsterdam is filled with canals, the government met the peeing protesters demands by building these stalls. Unfortunately in the '70s people started using these public toilets for drug use and make-shift housing. Of course this terrified women, so they refused to use them and the government locked them all up. Now they are used as billboards. Fantastic. Now me must pay to urinate again.

The Dutch love to ride their bikes. Man I miss my bike. Tear.

The women's prison. The woman on the left is spinning wool while the woman on the right is getting the daylights beat out of her for refusing to spin. What did they need a women's prison for? To house the prostitutes during the weekends. Politicians haven't always outwardly supported the red light district in Amsterdam, so they built a women's prison to change things up. I don't think the elder politicians did much, because the red light district is still thriving. Disgusting, but thriving.

I know what you are thinking. Odd shape for a monument in the middle of Dam Center. It is indeed. Yes this is Dam Center. At one time there were two rivers that ran through the heart of Amsterdam, but the Dutch dammed them to create this city center known as Dam Center. Original, right?

Pigeons, anyone?

What is that straight ahead? Palace? Nope. Ginormous shopping arena. The palace is on the left, but is being renovated so you can't really see anything but sheets and scaffolding.

This building is lined with plaques that at one time marked the homes in Amsterdam describing the industry that the homeowners were involved with.

More fun plaques.

You can buy stamps here. I just thought the humongous arm coming out of the wall was peculiar, so I took a picture of it.

While still on the walking tour we walked through a part of a museum. Here you can see David and Goliath. Look how masculine Goliath looks, and then look at David. Hmmm.

No, your eyes are not decieving you. That building is totally leaning. Must love Dutch craftsmanship. Did I make that word up?

This was a garden. Someone special lived here, and if I remember who then I will tell you. So sorry.

This little tunnel ran from the garden above and back to the street. Pretty awesome.

The men's prison at one point in time was located here. Now it is a shopping district. Oh the irony.

Lenea and I on the walking tour. It was windy and cold. That is my story for my bad hair and I am sticking to it.

After our free tour Amy, our tour guide, took us to eat a traditional Duthc meal at Boom Chicago. This is what we got. Lump of potatoes with a sausage log on top. It was actually really delicious, and you could get a second plate for free. I couldn't do it. I could barely finish this beast.

Hey look! Boom Chicago :)

All of the buildings around the area were really interesting, so I took pictures like the tourist that I am.

A row of bars/pubs.

Awesome bedazzled gladiator sandles in the walking district of Amsterdam. Lenea wanted me to try them on, but I opted not to because they were entombed in glass. I figure that meant they were really expensive, and I didn't want to play with them.

While walking home we passed the flower district. Gorgeous! This shop was my favorite by far. After I took all of my pictures I noticed a sign that said, "No pictures please." Yes. It was written in English for ignorant American tourists like me. Gotta love it. Who can resist taking a picture of a cow in a flower shop? Obviously not me.

Then after I see the cow I spy this little man sitting in the midst of the floral jungle. How can I resist?

Look at the awesome ceiling with fanastical flowers hanging from it. Amazing, right? Oh yes. Love it!

The bikes were all over!

That night we headed to a pub to just chill out and chat about all of the amazing things we had seen thus far in Amsterdam.

March 12- We set out for the Van Gogh Museum. I was so excited! This was my second trip to Amsterdam and I had never seen the museum before. We stopped at a cafe before going to the museum becuase we had walked a bit and were a little hungry. We arrived mid afternoon to the museum, and it was perfect. No crazy long lines like we were expecting. The only line we waited in was to check our coats and umbrellas because we were not allowed to take them with us on our journey. Why? I don't know. After we toured the awesomeness know as Van Gogh, we picked up our coats and umbrellas from the coat check. I thought they had lost my scarf, but it was just shoved in the arm of my jacket. Of course I found this out after I went behind the counter in a frantic search. On our way back from the museum we spotted this awesoem sign.
There are two of these signs in Amsterdam. I wonder how long they thought about that catch phrase before making this beauty.

After Van Gogh we went back to the hotel to freshen up for a nice Argentinian steak for dinner. Mmmmm! It was yummy! We hit the hay pretty early, because the next morning Lenea had to hop on a train at 8 am and I had to pick my girls up from the Amsterdam Airport.

March 13- Successfully found the platform for Lenea's train and I was off to the airport. Somehow I missed the girls at baggage claim and hear, "Ms. Kailey Dautrich from Dallas, TX, your party is waiting for you at the information booth." Super! A little humiliating, but super. We were very giddy and loud! We played the American card in full force. Lots of screaming/jumping and hugging.

We then walked to our hostel which was on the other side of Amsterdam, only to discover that we couldn't check in quite yet. Fortunately they let us store our bags there, so that we didn't have to lug them around while we were sightseeing. I don't think our hostel was quite what we thought it was going to be based on the fantastic reviews online, but it worked. It reminded me of the scene from Pinnochio when he turns into a real boy and runs wild in the land with all of the other rambunctious little boys. Do you know what I am talking about? We are pretty sure the online reviews were all written by 17 year olds, because there were teenagers everywhere. After storing our bags, we decided to set off for Van Gogh. We did not make it to Van Gogh because we got sidetracked by the Heineken Museum (previously mention on March 11 due to crazy picture uploading).

Along the way we found some house boats! I would not want to live on one of these simply for the fact that their water is stinky. It doesn't stink like in Venice, but it stinks coming out of the pipes. I know this only because I stayed on a house boat last spring break and one of the girls I was with took the first and only shower on the boat. She smelled worse coming out of the shower compared to what she went in smelling like.

From here we found the yummiest panini shop and filled our bellies with sandwiches and coffee. Delightful combination. From there we stumbled upon the red light district. It is madening. You would be shocked by what you see in the windows. Who knew there was a market for oversized women scantilly dressed? Not me. We didn't take pictures. We were told that if you do, then the women will come out and throw pee on you. Yuck. Not that you would want to take pictures of that anyway. Just seeing it made me want to rip out my eyeballs. Yeesh. After this tragic event we tried to find a fun pub to sit down for a while. Through a series of awkward events, we found a small pub that was comfy enough for us to just sit down and have a drink. The only problem was that our table was located right in front of the restrooms. Not ideal, but it worked. Our waiter came back and asked us what we wanted to drink. He brought our drinks to the table and then went into the men's restroom to grab us some straws to go with. Why he entered the men's restroom we do not know. We told ourselves that the men's restroom must be a door that leads to the men's restroom and the storage closet. Needless to say we did not use the straws. Then we walked back to the hostel because the girls were pooped. We had made sandwiches with some yummies that we bought at the supermarket and had a picnic on the floor in our private room (meaning we had our room and bathroom. Praise Jesus!). We then climbed into our rickety bunkbeds for a good night of sleept. Not! The hoodlums in our hostel were running down the halls all hours of the night shouting ridiculous things that are not suited for a family blog. Grrr!

March 14- We woke semi well rested and headed down for our free breakfast which consisted of bread, salami, cheese, and boiled eggs. Breakfast of champions. The good part was the endless supply of yummy coffee! From here we walked to Dam Square to meet up with the free tour. This time our tour guides name was Joe, and ironically he too was from Australia. He was fantastic. The Australians have a great sense of humor. I was a little worried that the tour would be boring the second time around, but it was even better than the first. Some of the same stories, but with a different spin and several new stories to boot.

See the tiny red building in the center? That is the tiniest building in Amsterdam. I bet those stairs are steep.

Motorcylce and a sidecar. Love it! This is reserved for Nicki and Evan :)

Who doesn't love a little graffiti?

Canals everywhere! After the tour we opted for a falafel instead of the traditional Dutch meal. It was so yummy! That night we went on a Pub Crawl. Probably not the smartest thing we could have done, but it was fun. We met people from all over the world. The crawl started at 8:30 pm and ran until 2 am, stopping at 6 pubs. There was no way we were going to last, so we hopped out early at the fourth pub and walked home.

March 15- Our tour guide told us about a flea market that he said was pretty cool and located near the old Jewish quarter of town. The first thing we see is this creepy tree with stuffed animals tied to it. Eeek!

The flea market was just like any other flea market-filled with lots of crap. One can only have so much fun at a flea market, so we opted for some warm coffee.

We mapped out a game plan to the Anne Frank House, but of course we got extremely lost. Thank God Amsterdam is a small city that only takes about 45 minutes to walk from one end to the next, or we would have died. Our legs would have fallen off and our hearts would have stopped pumping. If there was a straight shot to get somewhere, we took a circle. It was fantastic.

This is the old Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam. During WWII the Germans ripped all of the Jewish people out of their homes and forced them into concentration camps. Amsterdam is one of the few cities where the people actually fought against the Nazi Party to keep the Jewish families in their homes. They did not see the Jewish people as anything other than Amsterdamians. Unfortunately they weren't strong enough for the Nazis because the Jews were all torn from their homes or forced to flee. After the war Amsterdam had a huge economic crisis, leaving the people searching for food to eat and wood to warm their homes. The Dutch started looking for wood inside the old Jewish Quarter to warm their homes. Eventually all of the wood was stripped from these homes, forcing the old Jewish Quarter to be torn down and rebuilt. In their infinite wisdom, Amsterdam opted to let the architecture students of the '60s come up with new housing for the old Jewish Quarter. As you can see. the results are terrible. It is one of the ugliest parts of Amsterdam.

They tried to make up for the ugliness by having beautiful flowers strewn down the alleys. Just kidding, but they should really conisder that as an option. Aren't they beautiful? This kind of makes you want to forgive the poor architectural students a little bit.

Fliers/posters/beer bottle labels...art?

After we made it to the Anne Frank House (Sorry no pictures. It just felt weird taking pictures there, so I opted not to.), we went to a wine and cheese tasting. One hour of unlimited wine and cheese for 10 euro. Great deal, right? Well we couldn't do it because the man working was working a solo shift and two people must be working for tour. Bummer. Instead he allowed us to taste all of the cheese they had displayed and sample the wine for free. Yay! Meanwhile we recieved an education in cheese. The proper time it requires to make good cheese, what varies in European cheese and Wisconsin cheese, yadda, yadda, yadda. I know more about cheese than I ever cared to know. With our proper cheese education we decided to buy some good cheese, salami, bread, and other random snacks for the long overnight train Berlin. 9 hours of fun! Yahoo!!

I am going to take a break for today, and update you tomorrow on Berlin. Friday I should have Paris up and running. I hope you have enjoyed everything thus far. There are plenty of stories to come!

Berlin, Germany

Frankfurt, Germany

Weinheim, Germany

Paris, France

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 :)