Switzerland & France

Switzerland


France

Monica's Neighborhood (& Renata's)

Went for a walk around Monica's neighborhood. She lives in a great part of the city, walking distance to downtown and lots of great shopping. Our next stops will be southern Germany, Switzerland, and France!! Can't wait to hit the road.


UPDATE: Pictures of Renata's neighborhood added (Monica's aunt in southern Germany)

Praha (aka Prague)

The castle was amazing!

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

Altomünster

Went down to Altomünster to visit Dachau and Munich. The drive there and back was fun, it was only about 2.5hrs. Oscar, Monica's GPS devise, took us on a couple of scenic detours but always got us were we wanted to go. I am constantly amazed by the number of Catholic Churches there are around Germany, small, large, simple, or ornate. It is wonderful to ask where the nearest Mass will be held and they point across the street! Almost as frequent as the Churches are the number of hops fields there are- we were apparently traveling through the "Beer Mug" of Germany. (Yes there are lots of pictures of fields, but there are other things too!)

Netzaberg

Monday began with another German breakfast, fresh baked bread is probably one of my favorite things ever. From there we took the autobahn to Monica's very large very nice German house. We stopped by base and went to the nearby Christmas Market. Lots of snow everywhere but I am adjusting to needing at least 5 layers with/on me at all times.

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.

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.

In Japan

I arrived into Yokosuka last night and am still very jet-lagged. The trip was actually very uneventful, especially considering my usual traveling adventures. It was nice when I got through the gate to see two of my favorite people waiting to greet me. Jill and Monica were both there with open arms. I am just amazed at how lucky I am that I left Phoenix hugging my wonderful family and immediately stepped off the plane into the hugging arms of my wonderful friends. Things here haven't changed, but then I haven't had a chance to get into the school yet where there will be new teachers and adminstrators to meet.

Now I get the start the fun of finding a new home, car, furniture, . . . And while I did get into the BOQ to stay for a couple weeks the entire base is booked after Sept. 8. So I am not too sure where I will go from here if I haven't found my new home yet. I am not really in a huge hurry to find a home since none of my stuff will be here until mid October.