Praha (aka Prague)

The castle was amazing!

New life goal: Become a princess and insist on castle with central heating. (That place was COLD)

Munich

Was exactly the way I imagined it! Right when we got the end of the first block I suddenly felt very "Catholic". Took me a minute to figure out why, there was a great big church with statues all over celebrating Mass right then. In less then 5 min walk we entered two other BEAUTIFUL Catholic Churches. One of them had a tall bell tower we were allowed to climb all the way to the top. The view was magnificent! Ben and I counted at least 8 clock towers from just one vantage point, who knows how many we would have found if we had counted all the way around.

The center of the city square looks just like it does in the movies. I was half expecting, all the way HOPING, to see Jason Bourne go running though center. No such luck, only the regular tourists. There were a lot of tourists, especially considering we were there on a Sunday and not a single store was opened. The only things open were cafes and bars.

We went to the famous beer hall in the center of town. We had pretzels, bread, and cheese... and BEER. (I am the only one who had beer.) It was so much fun with the band playing and everyone crowded in. Have I mentioned yet that I really enjoy the grown up men in Germany. They are full size there! Almost all were taller than I am, it was great.

Weiden

A life size Advent calendar in the center of Weiden at the Christmas Market.

The evening ended with some wonderful German desserts! Ben had the damphnudeln covered in vanilla sauce while I had a waffle with powedered surgar and caramel. (I am still surprised that at the Christmas Markets -all outdoors- they give you real plates, forks, and spoons, very rarely do give you diposable anything)

Heidelberg

I arrived in Frankfurt at 5:15 am and was in Heidelberg by 8am. Breakfast was huge wonderful event, breads, meats, cheeses, veggies, jams, and pickles. Monica’s family is so nice and welcoming, Anneliese & Guenter (aunt and uncle). After breakfast we went to the local monastery where they brew their own beer and have a little Christmas market. While there I got to have my first cup of mulled wine, the first of many come- I hope. Then we returned to house and had a traditional German lunch (or dinner as they call it). We had beef rolled around pickles and cheese with mashed potatoes and red cabbage.

After lunch we stopped by Heidelberg Army base where they have a Jesus Land(?). If it wasn’t snowing and so cold we would have gone into it so I can’t tell what Jesus Land is all about. From there we headed to the main Christmas Market.

The Christmas Market was so FABULOUS! So many stalls with tons of fun German things and from around the world. We began with another cup of the wonderful mulled wine (or Glowing Wine), Ben had hot cocoa. There were so many people there despite the snow, making the whole atmosphere festive and exciting. I would describe more but I think the pictures tell a much better story than I could.

My first day ended when my eyes refused to stay open any longer (8pm). Looking forward to tomorrow.

Smash Mouth

Smash Mouth came to base last week and gave free performance in the bowling alley parking lot. We had a great view and even ended up eating at the Officer's Club at the same time. The video isn't the greatest but I did what I could and tried to keep it short.

Birthday

I had a great birthday this year. I have such wonderful friends! Ben baked me a fabulous cake and together we made felafel's (note for the future: PURCHASE THEM).



After my wonderful party I went home (aka the hotel room) and flipped on the computer. Which proceeded to crash. Now it beeps mean words at me-- okay it just beeps but it feels mean to me. Now I need a new hard drive. Luckily it is still under warranty and I regularly back up the hard drive. Unluckily i live in Japan so getting it shipped here will be difficult. Remind me again why I love Dell?

Labor Day Weekend

Saturday was spent looking for someplace to live. Nothing really said "This is home" to me so I am going to keep looking. I'm hoping that better things will come along, I'm not in any hurry to find something right now. This is where I am going to live for at least the next two years, possibly more, so it needs to feel right to me.

Sunday I got to spend the day with my two best friends in Japan. I had brunch with Monica and Ben to start the day. The remainder of the day was spent sitting around Jill's house, mostly talking but also creating the website for her wedding. If you want to see what I put together for her you can go HERE.

Today, Monday, I completed my first 5k since my knee surgery. I was VERY slow but I wasn't last, so I accomplished my only two goals- finishing and not being dead last. It was fun to try the race and there were quite a few people from school there.