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.

Feet on the ground in Vilseck

So we arrived at the Frankfurt Airport and then to the welcome center for military.  After sitting for 3 hours they put us on a bus headed for Vilseck.  No one had really slept on the flight.  I suppose that had a lot to do with uncomfortable airline seats and we were excited to be on our way.  During our 5 hour bus ride, the kids slept.  George and I dozed off for some short naps.  About half way to Vilseck, the bus stopped at a rest stop with a BurgerKing.    Clayton woke up and walked in with George.  I tried to wake Elana, but she was out for the count.  Eventually, I carried her into BurgerKing and set her down on a barstool.  She immediately went back to sleep with her head resting on the table.  Clayton had sat down beside her and also was resting his head.  So George and I proceeded up to counter to make our 1st attempt at ordering in Germany.  We looked over at Clayton and he had disappeared.  We figured he had gone in to the bathroom.  After we got our food, he still wasn't back.  George and I frantically started to search the bathroom and the bus.  He wasn't to be found anywhere!!  I moved Elana from the barstool to a booth and asked George to start searching the rest of the BurgerKing.  That's when George found Clayton laying down on a benchseat to a booth on the other side of the room, sound asleep.  Phew... would have hated to explain to officials how we lost our kid with only being in country for roughly 5 hours!!

We got back onto the bus and finished the trip to Vilseck.  We had a very warm welcome from George's new unit.  We received our ration cards and then we signed into the hotel on base.  Our room is sufficient.  It has 2 beds, a bathroom with a very very deep tub, and a small kitchen area.  I'll be sure to post pictures of our temporary place soon.

The base in general is small compared to ones we've been at before.  It really reminds us a lot of Japan.  It has the basics and the people we've talked to so far have been very polite and friendly.  All in all, our first impression is good.  I think we are going to like our stay here in Germany!

In the hotel

Our days in Virginia are numbered. Today we moved into the hotel. All our household items are on their way. Granted we'll be in limbo for awhile. The kids need to learn to use "quiet" voices in the hotel room. And we all need to be alert for Houdini's escape attempts. Thankfully we are on the 3rd floor to if he does get "out" we've got an interior hallway to capture him in

Van on its way!

We took our van to the Baltimore Port Call. After the expected hour of processing, our van is now in their hands and on it's way to Germany. We'll make it in country before our van, but that's ok. It will give us time to obtain our USAREUR license and get a little accustomed to the area.

Less than a month

It's hard to believe. we move in less then a month! Today we got our flight information and we fly on August 13th.




Currently, our no fee passports are being processed. Thankfully we have our tourist passports already, so we'll be moving on those. Next week, we hope to ship our our van. The last week of July and first week of August will be our shipments of household goods.

All arrangements for moving are finally falling into place. Hopefully the rest of our move will go more smoothly. It's been a bumpy ride to this point. Seems as though the offices we've had to deal with to this point, all seem to give conflicting information.

Where's Vilseck

Wondering where Vilseck, Germany is? Vilseck is a town in the Oberpfalz region of northeastern Bavaria, Germany situated on the river Vils, a tributary of the Naab river. Its name comes from the location of a castle built in the year 920. "Eck" is the German word for corner. The Vils river has a tight bend where the Burg is located. Thus, the name Vilseck.

Paperwork Nightmare

Today Clayton's EFMP enrollment paperwork was filled out by the doctor. After I get it stamped by the EFMP office at Ft. Myers, I believe my portion of George's paperwork is finally done! Which means we are a 1/2 step closer to getting our orders. Woohoo!

George has a meeting tomorrow morning in regards to the rest of his paperwork. So maybe, just maybe he'll be turning in this packet from the levy briefing next week. We've only had this packet for 3 weeks now. Heaven forbid anyone in the Military District of Washington would know who we have to see to complete it.

Once it's completed and gets turned in, it can take up to a month for Germany to approve the kids and I moving the same time as George. And then another 7-10 days for the orders to be cut. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Germany is on the fast track so we can get our orders quickly. There's so much to do (passports, shipping the van, setting up moving dates, plane tickets, etc) and nothing can be done without orders.

I'll be sure to post more on the progress of our orders as things develop.

Welcome

Thanks for visiting my blog. My family is getting ready to move to Germany this summer. It will be a fun and exciting time for us. My goal is to share our experiences here. So be on the lookout for updates about our preparations for moving and many posts about our adventures once we arrive at our new home.

We want to move before the kids start the next school year. Hopefully the Army will get us our orders shortly so we make our travel plans. As of right now, we are aiming to fly to Germany on or about August 12th, 2009.