A quick trip to Amberg

Amberg is about a 20 minute drive from our house.  George was the first to go to Amberg.  His Head Start class went there on their last day.  (Head Start is a week long class where the solider is taught customs and helpful information about the country they are stationed in.) 

We are still trying to get used to the recycling sytem here and therefore needed to find a more suitable trash can for our refuse.  We haven't had much luck finding one at the PX so we hoped a German store would carry what we wanted.  So we loaded the kids into the van and headed for Real (said "re-al") store in Amberg. The Real is a kind of like a German verison of Wal-Mart.  It has a groceries, stationary, electronics, household items, toys and some clothing.  I found replacement ink cartridges for the fountain pen I bought during our last trip to Real.  The kids got the children's chocolate eggs candy with a small toy inside.  (Sorry, I can't think of the name of those right now.)  Lastly, we found a trashcan and trashbags that will work!!  Oh and on the way out of the store, George stopped at the bakery for a fresh soft pretzel.  They are yummy!  Not warm like we get them in the states, but they are still very good.

After leaving Real, we decided to be a little adventerous and try to make it to the church George toured with his HeadStart class.  We basically only knew it was on the other side of town from the Real and up on a hill.  So off we went.  We wound up winding through some residental roads.  We figured so long as we were headed up hill and getting closer to the church we were on the right path.  Just about the time we were going to call it quits and press the "go home" button on the GPS, we finally found the parking lot to the church.

The view was amazing.  I think the church is roughly 450ft above the city of Amberg.

The German name of the church is Maira Hilf.  I believe it translates into St. Mary's Church.  Here you can see the steps the head up the church with George and the kids posing nicely.  And then a picture of Amberg in the background behind the kids.

 

Unfortunetally, we really didn't go inside the church because a service was getting ready to begin.  That's ok though, it just means we'll have to go back another time. 

 

PS.  I did not make this video, but found it on YouTube.  It's of the inside of the church.

School Field Trip

This week I tagged along with Elana's 1st grade class to the Weiden Farmer's Market.  It is located in the middle of town.  The cobble stone roads are off limits to vehicles (or very limited vehicle access).  There was a large variety of fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers.  While at the market, I purchased 1/2 a pinapple and some strawberries.  Elana purchased a bundle of fresh flowers for €2.50 (Euro) which is equivalent to about $3.75.  We stopped by a baker's stand while wandering around the market area and bought a donut with vanilla icing and sprinkles.  Elana ate it quickly and with a huge smile.  Saying it was fantastic! 

The farmer's market supposedly runs on Wednesday and Saturdays.  The one 1st grade teacher informed the parents who tagged along that the market is much larger on the weekend.  Elana has asked that we come back again soon.  I wouldn't mind going back either.  The pinapple I bought was so juicey that my counter was drenched in juice by the time I was done cutting it up.  Unfornetally the strawberries only lasted about 2-3 days before they went bad, but they were delicious and worth getting again.

Flossenbürg Concentration Camp

After seeing the Flossenbürg castle ruins, we made our way to the concentration camp.  We were surprised to find it basically in the middle of town.  The prisoners at the camp were forced to work the quarry which were at the base of the castle ruins.  The camp was started in 1938 and liberated by the 2nd US Cavalry on April 23rd, 1945.  It is estimated that there were 73,000 victums.  


This is the headquarters at Flossenbürg:

(front) (back)

Entrance to the prisoner side of camp:

One of the watchtowers at the camp:

 The "Valley of Death" memorial and the crematorium at the far end:

 This chapel was built from stones from demolished guard towers.  It also incorporates one of the towers into the building:

Visiting the camp did raise the kids curiosity.  And answering their questions was a little difficult.  From my understanding, no woman or children were held here.  None the less, it was a very humbling experience.

Flossenburg Castle Ruins

Today we went on our 1st outing in Germany. It also marked our first drive on the Autobahn. Driving on the Autobahn was easy enough. Thankfully it was a weekend day, so I'm sure it wasn't as busy as it could have been.

Here's a little bit of information I found online about the Castle ruins:

The ruins of Flossenbürg Castle, built in around 1100, sit in splendour overlooking the town of the same name. A path leads up to the castle, which is accessible all year round. Flossenbürg is well known for its abundance of granite. Granite was quarried on Burgberg hill until the 1960s when it was stopped to protect the castle ruins. Source: www.visitgermany.no

After a short walk uphill, we were greeted with a beautiful view of the land below. It was however a bit chilly and windy up there. Thankfully the rain (light rain) held off until we reached the bottom of the trail and walked back to the van.
Here is a small sample of what the ruins look like:

I've posted the pictures we took in my Picasa album if you'd like to see more. Just click on this link: Flossenburg Castle Ruin Photos

**We also visited the labor/concentration camp while in Flossenburg. I'll do my best to share the few photos we took there as well.**

Slugs

Even Germans have slugs, and they're ugly to boot! Here is one we found on the path up to the castle ruins in Flossenburg. It's almost 1/3 the length of Clayton's foot. He wears a men's size 8 shoe just in case you were curious.

Our new house

Well we have moved into our quarters. We are in the end unit, "A" of a 4-plex building.

Our furniture has until October 5th to arrive. So in the meantime, we have been issued temporary furniture from the Army. It isn't the prettiest or the most comfortable, but it will suffice.

If you want to see more of our house, be sure to check out my online photo album at:
My Picasa Photo Album

Offered housing

Well we stopped in the housing office today. Unfortunetally my hopes of us living off base in "built to lease" housing was crushed. There were no off post housing available. Housing offered 2 different houses here on base. They were both located on the same street. I could throw a rock from one and hit the other. So location wasn't going to play a factor in which house we choose. They both had the exact same floor plan and part of a 4-plex housing unit. The only difference was, 1 had a neighbor on each side, and the other was an end unit. It looks like we'll be selecting the house that is the end unit. If I have to live on base, I'd prefer to have as few neighbors surrounding us as possible.

Good points on the house:

• Elana's school will be about 2 blocks away.
• George's office is roughly 1/2 mile or so away.
• It's by the MP (military police) station, so I'd like to believe that it's a quiet safe neighborhood.

I think we'll be strolling through the neighborhood tonight. It's not far from the hotel room we are in. I'd like to see how it looks at night. If I don't feel safe, then I'll push to pursue living off base in private (German landlord) housing.