Cochem

Cochem was a fun little town that we went to in Germany with a castle that is open & has guided tours.  Not to mention some adorable little shops including a wine store that is literally a cellar under a couple shops!  They sell all kinds of wine that is made in town & in the region & other locally made liquors including Absinthe which I really wanted to get some to try but we will just have to make another trip there! There was also a vinegar store!  If you are anything like me you are thinking "Vinegar...really?"  and yes really!  They make all kinds of infused vinegars like strawberry, blueberry, rhubarb, peach, pomegranate, and several others!  They also sold different types of mustard's.  I tried a peach mustard that was actually pretty fantastic!  They make homemade bruschetta spreads like a mango brushcetta that you just add some water to.  Those were fantastic also!  We didn't buy anything in these stores so I am sure we will be going there again!

Driving into Cochem this was one of the views of the castle.

We had to walk up to the castle which is great because the roads are super narrow, however,  they were STEEP!  This picture doesn't do it justice at all! It wasn't a short walk either!  I had to stop a couple of times to use my inhaler!

This picture gives you a little bit better idea of how steep it was! The tower on the left is where we were headed & the road was just to the right of the tree that went straight up!!  Oh and the stuff in front of us are grapevines!  There are vineyards on the side of mountains & hills like this all over Germany it is kind of incredible!

This wall has a mural of Saint Christopher which a lot of people say is why the Castle has survived in such great condition for so long!

A view of the town from the entrance of the castle

Julie & me!  Check out the gargoyle behind us!

The part that is a different color is sad to be completely original!  The castle is very old but no one knows for sure how old.  The first mentioning of Burg Cochem dates back to the year 1000!

This was a tunnel that monks used to use to secretly transport alcohol to & from town!  Also for the residents to escape whenever it was under attack! It was a secret passage of course & the door when closed even blends into the wall so only a handful of people knew it was there!  It was in a room called the ladies parlor & our guide said that sometime mistresses would use it to come & go in the night as well!

This was a light that is said to be cursed!  It is a mermaid with antlers coming out of its back and legend has it that if you touch the belly & make a wish it will come true!! Notice how worn the spot on the belly is!!  They allow you to make a wish on it as you pass through the room!

This was the game room!!  Not what we think of these days as a game room!  We had to take a picture of this wild hog for our BIL who is a die hard Razorbacks fan!!!

Bear skin rug!  Yes it is real and our guide said it it a few hundred years old!

This was the Knights Hall where the knights would be able to hang out & have pints & play games & what not!

Suits of armor.  The big one was 7ft tall & belonged to the head knight!  

I forgot to mention that this tower is also called the witches tower!

This was the restaurant our tour guide recommended to us.  It was so good!  Schnitzle, pommes, Hefeweizen, Salat, & some amazing tomatensuppe.  Alte Thorshenke is the name & it is attached to a hotel of the same name!  So if you ever come visit we will be doing you an injustice not to take you here!!

Julie & me being silly trying on some funky hats!

Cochem has been by far my favorite place we have explored so far!  I can not wait to go back & I can not wait to have people visit us so we can take them there!!

Luxembourg

A few months ago we took a day trip to Luxembourg with our friends The Starnes'!  Now I had always thought that Luxembourg is a city in France, but I found out that it is in fact its own country!  We went to the capitol Luxembourg City!  I am not very familiar with its government or anything but there was a "palace" in the town center with a guard that just marched back and forth!  They have two native languages German & French!  Most natives speak French and almost every native European we have encountered speaks a little English! Back to Luxembourg!  We spent the day roaming around the Center.  We also went to the American Military Cemetery that is there.  We finished off the day with dinner at a sports bar with some delicious American-French-German food & a movie at one of the biggest & nicest movie theater I have been to!  It was kind of funny to us to be in Luxembourg watching an American movie that was in English but with both French & German subtitles!! 

The Guard at the Palace.  You can see the worn path from them walking back & forth so much!

This city was completely walled way back in the day & this is some remains of the guard tower going over the bridge into the center

 Looking down onto some centuries old Luxembourg.

Parliament Building

On the other side of the guard tower going into the center

On the left is the Palace...all of it!  It was so big I couldn't fit it all in the camera!!

This dog was so pretty & well behaved!

The gates going into the American Military Cemetery

There were a lot of graves of unidentified soldiers there

I couldn't not put this in here!  I almost died seeing Star Wars hype in Luxembourg!!  It was everywhere too but this was the only Yoda I saw so I had to get a picture!!

This was just a statue in the Center I have no idea who or what it is suppose to represent I just liked it!  

I was in complete amazement the whole day! With wide eyes & my camera up & ready we were complete tourists that day in a land that seemed like we were dreaming!  These places only exist in movies type of feel!  It has been so fun exploring all these fun places!! 

What's Happenin!!

Hey y'all! I can't believe it has been a month since I posted!  Sorry about that!  I know I owe you all a few posts, one about our car situation! And one about our house including pictures!  Unfortunately neither of those are happening today!!  A few months ago we took a day trip with our new friends to Luxembourg & so I also feel that I owe you all a post on that trip as well!

Today, however, I just wanted to make sure you all knew we are still alive!

Let's see where to begin! Since the last post my "little" brother turned 19 & finished his first year of college! I am so proud of him! He is so much like his big sister I mean whats not to be proud of! Hehe!

We got a new car after some issues arose with the first one we bought.  I won't get into that now, but I promise a post all about that situation soon!  Trust me it needs its own post! LOL!

I believe Easter happened too!  We had a great day!  I cooked a ham & for the first time ever I made my Grams' infamous cream potatoes that she only ever made on New Year's & Easter so it felt a little more like home at least for me!  They turned out pretty good, though no where near as good as when she made them!  I also have a new found respect for this particular dish as I never realized just how much work went into them!  I also made green bean casserole, we had bread of course, corn on the cob(that didn't cook all the way and was still cold when it was time for dinner!) and for dessert...banana pudding!  When I was little it seemed that my mom would make great banana pudding for Easter & Christopher had never had "Yankee" banana pudding before!  It isn't really called "Yankee" banana pudding but the only banana pudding he has ever had has been from the south where it is only one layer of pudding, bananas & wafers with a meringue on top.  Mine was several layers of pudding, bananas, wafers & of course Cool Whip!  He liked it & was surprised at how different it tasted!  My friend Julie had come over a few days before Easter & we colored eggs!  So when her & her husband came over on Easter for dinner she brought some devilled eggs with bacon in them!  Oh My Goodness!  They were so yummy!  We finished up the evening with a fun game of Taboo!

I finally got my European Drivers License!  I barely passed the test but I knew Christopher was going to be going TDY soon & I didn't want to be stuck at home while he was gone!  I was really intimidated to drive at first but I just took a deep breath, baked out of the driveway & hoped for the best!  It wasn't bad at all!  Though I am still a little intimidated by the Autobahn!  I haven't gone very far just on base which is about 5 or 6 miles from our house & Church which is about 20 miles away maybe.  It has been so nice to be able to run errands & not have to wait for Christopher to get home after he's had a long day at work!  I got some independence back & it was so liberating to have one less thing to have to depend on my husband for!

Christopher went TDY to Romania for ten days.  It was hard to be here by myself but I kept myself busy!  I went on base everyday I think!  Walked around the huge exchange & the bookstore & went to the gym & probably spent too much money! LOL  I had the pleasure of having lunch with Chris' supervisor & his family on the two Sundays he was gone!  I ran into them at church after the service on the first Sunday ( I had no idea they went to the same church!) & then again at the exchange food court after we left church so I sat down & had lunch with them!  The next Sunday they called & invited me to come with them out to eat again & I did!  They are such a sweet family!  I started a garden. Well, I started digging up the area that used to be a garden but the landlords put down grass seed in the fall so I had to dig up all the grass.  I got about half of the are done so I decided that is how big my garden is going to be this year!  I dug it all up, put down some compost & am planning on planting later this week.  I also started "Spring Cleaning" our house!  I know we just moved in but we have so much stuff still unpacked & I figure if we have lived without it for 6 months we must not need it that bad!  So I have been going through all of the still packed boxes and trying to unclutter our lives & home!  I went yard-saling for the first time in forever with my friend Julie!  I bought a bookshelf, 4 paintings, a grill & a lamp for $25 & 20euro! It was so fun I can't wait to do it again!

The day before Christopher came home I started getting sick. BOO!! Then of course he got sick & the 5 days he had off when he got back we spent together in the living room being sick, sleeping & watching movies & aching & coughing & being completely miserable! Which brings us to Saturday!  Not much has happened since then!  So are all caught up!  This was a really long one & my fingers are cramping now! LOL  Happy Wednesday!

New Years & Birthday!

For some reason it took me about 2 weeks to get acclimated to the time change!  My Jet lag was awful!  I slept during most days or didn't sleep for a few days until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore!  It was such a struggle for me!  So New Years Eve was no obstacle for me!  In fact I think that was day 3 or 4 of my insomnia & I think i was up for 2 more days after that before I finally crashed!  I don't know if it was stress from being in a foreign land so far away from everything that I have ever known, not having a vehicle, not having a place to live, or most of all not having my puppies anymore.  Whatever it was I was so happy to start sleeping again!  On to the main subject!

 This year New Years Eve was a tad bit different!  Usually we would have a party & a ton of food & drinks & games & hats & decorations & all that jazz that makes for a great NYE party!  Although 2011 NYE didn't end the way I would have liked with a phone call from my cousin telling me that my Grams had suddenly taken a turn for the worst...it was still a much better celebration in my opinion. This year we sat in our TLF room just the 2 of us!  Watched movies, had some champagne, fell asleep before midnight & woke up to the fireworks that lasted for 2 hours!!  Some pics to show you the difference!!

2012 food for just us!!(I couldn't help myself & some things should never change!)

12:01 of 2012 I do believe!

2011 NYE! Rockband!

Fun Decor!!

Great Friends!

Needless to say NYE was just not the same!  I cried & Christopher fell asleep!  I was lonely & felt that we made a huge mistake! Don't worry that quickly changed!  

Soon enough we found our house!  More on that to come soon!

Which has so much character & storage I absolutely love it!(I think this was about the time I started sleeping again!)

Found a car which turned out to be a big mistake!  More on that later too!  And then it was time for Christopher to start working again which meant I was left home alone without any of our furniture a loaner bed & no puppies.  I quickly felt depression creeping in!  Alas it was my birthday & I thought it was going to be an awful day.  We had almost nothing in our house to eat which was probably a good thing.  Chris had taken me on base to rent some movies the night before so on my birthday I sat in bed and watched season 1 of Gossip Girl & Downton Abbey on my laptop!  Soon my Facebook started blowing up with birthday wishes which sounds crazy but it made my loneliness almost disappear for the day!  I quickly became consumed with the drama & glamour of Gossip Girl & it was turning out to be a pretty great birthday!  Then Christopher called & said he had to work late so I would be alone even longer... :( Fortunately he ended up getting home earlier than he thought!  Since we had no food & pizza is my favorite as it reminds me of home my hubby comes home with this for my birthday dinner!

It was delicious & I think I gained about 5 lbs just from that nights dinner!  Nowhere near as good as any pie we'd get in the Chicagoland area of course but pretty good for Germany!

Then I got to open my presents which I was expecting nothing since we have been so busy and unless he was at work we were together & I hadn't seen him get anything...& my BFF sent me a gift too!

I learned that my hubby does pay attention to me more than I think!!  & my Bestie got me an Owl Pandora Charm which names was together forever!! (it's in the pic but hard to see!)  It ended up being a great day with a few hiccups in the middle!!

So there is my recap of  our NYE & my birthday!

Not sure what is next but stay tuned...!!!

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  We had a very low-key weekend!  Went out to dinner with some friends to our local hangout on Friday!  Had a great time but totally over-indulged! Saturday we were lazy most of the day but went on a date that evening!  Which reminds me save yourself the time & money & do not see Haywire it was awful!  We were going to see Hunger Games but I haven't finished the book yet!  I will have it finished very soon & hopefully we can go this week before it leaves us!  Sunday we did nothing!  Watched movies, took a nap, more movies, made dinner, another movie then bedtime!  With all of the doing nothing this past weekend I feel completely relaxed & rested & ready to tackle the week! I will be working on a few more update posts as promised this week with more pictures! Today is a gorgeous day although still in the forties/fifties but I will darn my ear muffs & head out for a run!  Happy Monday to all!

Much overdue Update!

Where do I begin!  I will skip over some stuff...

We got here on Christmas eve.  Was picked up at the airport by Chris' new co-worker Ben & his family & they brought us to our temporary lodging facility (TLF).  This was not only my first time overseas but also my first PCS. So when we walk into our TLF room & it is fully stocked with enough food, water & entertainment to last us a little over a week I thought it was normal!  But no, we soon find out that a First Sgt friend of Christopher's previous First Sgt hooked us up because of all of the passport mess we had to go through to get here!  It was so nice to not have to rush to the commissary to pick stuff up & not have a clue & blah blah blah!

Christmas Day.  This year it was just us.  Well, that was what we had planned for anyway since we didn't have a car & didn't know where anything was & figured everything on base would be closed.  We figured we would eat the sandwiches, pretzels, & oreos that were awaiting our arrival for Christmas dinner!  Our "plan" didn't work out that way!  Early that morning the phone in our room started ringing & we immediately got scared because no one knows us here is something wrong etc. Nothing was wrong at all!  In fact it was the delightful Primrose calling to see if we had plans for the day!  Of course we said no & she follows with something along the lines of be ready about noon we are picking you up after church!  Primrose, I later found out is also one of Chris' new co-workers!

Her, her husband, Brett & there 2 lovely daughters, Dasha & Christy picked us up & brought us to their museum,( I mean mansion, i mean house) where I helped Prim & her daughters make a delicious Christmas dinner & Christopher walked around there home & was given the guided tour by Brett!  We watched them open some presents & to me that was the best part of the day!  The girls didn't get fancy new technology & video games & all the stuff the kids in the states cry for & parents spend way to much money on!  These girls got books, music books for the piano, candy bars, pretty smelling lotions & ornaments & school supplies and I have never seen 2 children more happy & grateful for those gifts in my life!  It was literally a life changing moment for me!  No I am not being dramatic I really almost cried & no it wasn't the delicious German & French wines we were drinking either!

Needless to say after Brett drove us back to our room after dinner & dessert we were so happy to be in Germany & to be creating these new memories already!  It was a great start to the adventure!  I will share more about our journey so far later!  But for now here are a few pictures from our Christmas!

This was the cake Dad & Cheryl & Jacob & Nano 

got for us our last night in the states! 

 It says Best Wishes & something else! 

Our Beautifully set table for our wonderful Christmas Dinner! 

 One of many Original handmade Tiffany lamps in their house!

 You can see a couple others in the first Christmas pic,

 but this one was my favorite!

Next up is a recap of New Years & My birthday!

Happy Hump Day!

I know I have some explaining to do & I promise that I will but for now I just want you all to know that we are alive and all is well!

I am having company over today! My first friend in Germany her name is Julie & we just happened to meet at In-Processing because I was wearing a shirt representing a college team from my home state! Which, turned out to be her home state as well! So we hit it off & since we are both unemployed she is going to come spend the day with me while our hubby's are working! We are going to go for a walk on some of the amazing trails they have in Germany & chat about girl stuff! I'm so excited! But I better go pick up my house before she gets here! Cheers! 

What's in store for your hump day?


And I promise a more in depth update soon!