Downtown Bamberg

On Sunday we went to explore Bamberg's downtown. Almost all shops are closed on Sundays (even Ikea!) but we figured we could get something to eat and casually stroll the streets and window shop. Well, the town was hopping! All the cafes and restaurants were packed with people having coffee, pastries and ice cream. How do I know this, you ask? Most have seating outside, which was packed, so I took a little inventory of what patrons were enjoying - just for future reference! Here's some of what we saw on our walk...

We parked in a garage, walked along the water, came up the stairs, and entered on this tiny street with flags strung from side to side. So festive!

Behind us is a church. It was WOW inside, but so ornate and big and a little gaudy that I really had no idea what to take a picture of, so I just didn't take any. The outside will have to do!

You see the church on the left, and on the right is an ice cafe where we got a little treat after lunch. But it wasn't anywhere near as good as our little local one. In fact, when we got home that night we drove to ours and got MORE ice cream, just cause we could :-)

We came upon this bridge and building with a pass-thru under. Just so nice!

Looking over the bridge, there's another smaller bridge lined with flower boxes full of geraniums - my favorite! And to the right in the water you'll see some kayaks. They actually have markings (beginner - difficult) for practice on these rapids. We thought that was neat.

This is what you see when you come out of the pass-thru on the other side of the building.

This is a 600 year old church. I wish I could say that we walked up to see the inside and it was beautiful...but we were too tired to walk the hill. Correction, we were too tired to have to carry the kids up the hill!

And this is silly...soccer is SO huge here it is ridiculous! It's a bakery window set up like a stadium with pumpernickel and sesame pretzel fans waving flags. There are teams down on the field as well. Hilarious! The kids got a real "kick" out of it. Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Our furniture and "household goods" are supposed to come today. They say a.m., but it will be Noon soon. That's the Army for you! Hopefully we can get the place set up and I can take some pictures to post.

Pottenstein

David had a 4day weekend because of training holidays, so we did a little exploring! Ok, I've just spent the last 10min looking at an atlas trying to figure out exactly where Pottenstein is, but I'm unable to locate it. The map we used is in the car, which Dave has, so just know it's about 40min from Breitenguessbach, not sure in which direction - everyone should know by now that I'm slightly geographically and directionally challenged! The drive was beautiful, green mountains, beautiful farmland and little towns. First we hit this little fun park that had a kind of gravity-driven roller coaster of sorts, a toboggan slide and some trampolines with harnesses so the kids could jump really high. We did not go on the toboggan slide because the carts had no seat belts and the person in the front had to control the speed and Dave and I weren't ready to relinquish that kind of control to three and five year olds just yet!

That is Dave and Kinley behind us. The track took your cart to the top, then gravity did the rest. Each cart had seat belts, thank goodness! and hand breaks.

This is me and Jones on our way up!

The beginning before our decent. It was pretty scary because in some parts the track was hanging off the side of the mountain and there was only this little cage in case you fell, and it was open at the top!

Dave and Kinley coming in at the end. Don't they look exhilarated?

 

Jones got going super high! And he had lots of fun, especially for a boy who didn't think he wanted to do it!

Little Kinley with her crazy hair and Buddha-belly was so light she kept stopping mid-air and the guy had to come push her bungees again.

Down the road about a 1/4 mile were the caves. There was a cafe on the side of the mountain where we had lunch before we ventured inside. The tour guide spoke German, but once inside we found out that if you waited after his explanation, there was a recorded English version that echoed through speakers in the cave walls. A little creepy, but also special, since we were one of only two English speaking families on the tour. We got to linger behind everyone else and go at our own pace.

The mouth of the cave is behind us. If you look right above the flagpole you'll see a fenced area which is where the cafe was.

Jones, our junior photographer, takes our picture while we wait for lunch.

Being friendly while we wait for the tour to start.

Inside the cave.

Lots of formations in the background, but they're hard to see.

This was a bear skeleton they found when they opened the cave and started cutting pathways.

Jones being cool, of course.

Formations on the cave floor.

This was the lowest part of the cave, right before the exit. They call the formation on the left the "tree" with the low ceiling representing the branches and leaves, and the icicle-like formations on the bottom the roots.

This is where you end up when you leave the cave. Completely amazing and beautiful!

Among the rocks and forest outside the cave.

After you exit the cave there is a short hike on a little trail through rocks and forest, then it opens up to this look-out spot where you then take some steps back down to the cafe, and then more steps down to the parking lot. In this photo past the parking lot you see some water and the little cream building on the left - it's a trout farm where you can feed the fish and there is a little cafe and you can also get smoked trout to go. We'll have to get some next time!

Ice

First, I have to say that I found out about the parade - we should have listened to Jones! You ARE supposed to follow the parade. It will lead you to the festival. We'll be prepared for next time!

'Ice' is the German word for ice cream. Everyone in the Stalker family is a huge fan of ice cream. There is a delicious little ice cafe about a 10min walk from the house. We have been there three times already since we got here! And they are open really late, like til 9pm. Which is great, because the sun LITERALLY does not go down until 10pm! It's been so hard to get the kids to bed at a decent hour. And so far there's no hope of sleeping in, either, because the sun starts to rise (along with the roosters) at 4:30am. Side note for my dad - I think this explains the need for the exterior shutters, which I certainly prefer to crime! Anyway, when we went for ice on Tuesday after dinner, I took some photos...

This is one of the walking paths that will take you to the train station or to downtown, but we don't take it to get to the ice cafe..

We walk on a little bridge over the train tracks - there is the local train, which is red, and this train, which is for distance travel. There is a beautiful cemetery right next to the tracks that has little gardens in front of each headstone. There are public watering cans that hang in the middle of the cemetary, and there is always at least one person there when we walk by tending to someones garden.

This is the view coming over the little train track bridge. Not bad!

Dave and the kids on the bridge.

Me and David, and my ice cream, too! I think I got cherry vanilla that time...yum!

Jones and Kinley, with their raspberry cones. They said it was the best ever and wanted that kind

every time. But when we went back the next night (yes, I'm slighly embarassed that we went two nights

 in a row!) Jones picked mocha cappucino and Kinley picked lemon. So adventurous!

Festival?

The first day we drove through town there was a banner announcing a festival in Breitenguessbach, the town where we live. It was on Sunday, and we decided to walk down and check it out. Visions of tall pints and big sausages had us excited all morning, and we skimped on breakfast so we'd have room to fully enjoy our first festival. We got dressed, grabbed the backpack (we didn't know what to expect and wanted to be prepared) and headed out. The afternoon was beautiful - clear and sunny with breezes and a temperature around 70 degrees. Like a great fall day in Florida! On our walk down to the main street in town, we passed people dressed in traditional German attire, carrying instruments of all kinds. We knew we were headed in the right direction!
We got to town and saw that one of the breweries was open. What luck! Most shops and restaurants are closed on Sundays. We were checking out the menu (not sure why since it wasn't in English) when we heard firecrackers a couple blocks down. Policemen blocked traffic and a small parade started with people and a band, not more than about 150 all together. Again, I'm not in "blog mode" yet so I was very late getting my camera out and only caught the view from behind....

Jones loved the music and wanted to follow the parade for as long as it went. However, David and I were a little confused. If it was a festival, shouldn't there actually be more going on than the parade? We had envisioned tents, booths, entertainment...not to the extent of blowup moonwalks and bouncy castles like Jones, but could a festival really mean just an itty bitty parade? If we weren't so starved, we might have done some exploring to find out. But we decided to head the two blocks back to the brewery and get some lunch. We walk in and find ourselves in a cute little restaurant. They direct us to a table, we ask for a menu, and our server gestures to us that she is going to find someone who speaks a little more English. A sweet girl comes from the back and explains that they only serve cake and ice (ice cream) until 5pm when dinner starts. We order two beers, two lemonades, and two pieces of tiramisu. Here's what the kids think of treat for lunch...

So there we are, having a wonderful meal of dessert and beer. I'm enjoying myself and don't even mind if there is a festival going on somewhere else. We finish up and leave, they offer the kids tiny chewy  treats, kind of like miniature startbursts (must be common because the woman at the market on the corner did the same thing). The waitresses are beside themselves when Jones and Kinley smile and say "danke schon"...we are sold and decide to return that night for dinner. Lucky for us they also have an enclosed kid room so Dave and I can actually enjoy some quiet time before and after dinner! In the first photo Jones is upset because he thinks I'm only taking a picture of Kinley and missing him on slide...

And in the next one Jones buried Kinley in the balls, you can just see her tiny little face...

That is all for today. I have to get a flyer ready for a company bbq we are having next week. I'm the "official" secretary for the 42nd Clearance Company FRG (family readiness group). Hope we have a good group!

Guten Tag! from Germany

Somehow we were able to make our hit time of 9am to leave for the airport. My mom picked us up, we shoved the luggage in the car and we were off! Got to the airport, checked bags, did a little shopping for last-minute items, got some euros and said our goodbyes. Amazingly, we got through it shedding only a few tears! Note: this post has few photos. Sorry in advance. Future entries will have the proper visual aids, I just couldn't juggle the camera and everything else!

TAMPA to MINNEAPOLIS
Gather three backpacks, two kids and one suitcase and we are off to the shuttle....except that I can't find the NINE (yes, nine!) tickets that we received at check-in. Holy *#@%!!! We head back down to the Delta counter and new tickets are printed. Ok, now we are off! Flight delayed by one hour, so we get a light lunch and eat until it is time to board. Kids are doing well and are excited. Flight attendant thinks they are cute, which is always helpful. I notice there is a GIANT man across the isle from us. So large that his body consumes the armrest when he sits down. Ironically, he is behind one of the few people that decides to recline. Space is so tight for him that he has to eat his parfait in the rear of the cabin. Behind us is a man who has mistaken the plane cabin for Miami beach. Straw hat, gold chain, leathery skin, and a loud floral print shirt that he has opted to leave unbuttoned, except for the single closure below his round belly. The only thing missing is his metal detector! These two people alone would have kept me entertained. But about 15min into the flight, my nose is confronted with the smell of, well, a fart. As I'm contemplating what kind of person does this in a confined area, my sweet Jones leans over and whispers "Mom, I just went gassy!" Well, on the up side, at least I'm not AS grossed out as I would have been if it belonged to someone else. So I lean over and whisper "Ok, well do it quietly and then pretend it wasn't you." It's the best I could do. So he whispers back "but it IS me." This exchange goes on for about 10min before we finally come to an understanding.

Next, I pull out the insulated mini thermos bottles I got for the kids, special for this trip. With a built-in straw and top, for no spills and no germs. Kinley's is a pink princess one and Jones has Spiderman. The flight attendant stops by, the kids pick out soda, she fills the thermos bottles, I put the tops on and everything seems fine. Until Kinley decides she is thirsty. One push of the button opens the top to reveal the straw. The carbonation from the soda has created a liquid rocket which shoots past Kinley (thank goodness) but hits the woman directly behind square in the forehead. I can only apologize profusely and try not to laugh. Lesson learned - no soda in the thermos.

MINNEAPOLIS to AMSTERDAM

We make this connection easily. I'm feeling confident. The kids were so good on the last flight that I had two couples tell me how well-behaved my children are. Well, of course that jinxed me. As soon as we board and find our row, all hell breaks loose. Kinley starts to FREAK out. I mean total breakdown. There is a very sweet twenty-something next to her. For some reason, Kinley is acting like this girl has devil eyes. She is screaming at the top of her lungs, and arching her back so I can't get her in the seat. I try distracting her with the tv's on the back of every seat - she can watch a special movie! - she doesn't care. I try threatening her with no movie - she doesn't care. I try ignoring her - doesn't work. This little girl is so upset I am barely strong enough to force her into the seat and secure her with the seat belt. She finally calmed down. We got settled, put movies on and waited for dinner. I was thrilled when they announced beer and wine were free on the flight. Cheap wine never tasted so good! The kids ended up getting about 4hrs of sleep, and I got about 2hrs. As we were preparing to land it dawned on me that if we land at 9:15am, we probably won't be able to make our connection flight which was scheduled to leave at 10am. I was right...

AMSTERDAM to NUREMBERG

We exit the plane and enter through the gate, and I'm a little panicked. I know we are cutting it super close, and I can't find one of those departure displays anywhere. Jones drops his neck pillow and a nice couple picks it up and calls to us...I ask where to find the departure list. About a 100ft down there is a congregation of people. There it is, listed in order of departure time, I assume, because it's not alphabetical. Takes me several minutes to find our flight and realize that we cannot possibly get from gate G to gate B in 5min. I want to cry. But I don't want to look too pathetic, so I forge ahead, looking for something...anything....anyone that can give me some information. Finally find security/customs and they direct me. Phew! But once through customs (where they think we are from Mexico....maybe the recent sun exposure from the beach?) I am lost again. Find the Information desk, find the KLM customer service area and am delighted to find we are already rescheduled on the 1pm flight. We are given a free phone call, 30euro in food vouchers and 150euro in flight credit. Nice! We have lunch, which YUM!!! Ham and cheese croissants, fresh squeezed juice, fresh salad and espresso. I'm feeling very European already. Having handled the flight change, ordered lunch and paid for it using euros AND vouchers, I'm gaining some confidence. Also optimistic because we are almost there! We have time for a photo next to the frogs...

All goes well on the last flight in to Nuremberg.  We get off the plane and have to go through security = being sniffed out by a drug dog. No worries for us and the kids thought it was pretty cool that the dog could pick out a bad guy! All of our luggage was there, except the booster bottom to Kinley's car seat. I had feared this might happen and explained this to the Delta employee in Tampa. He assured me he would take care of it. I'm sure something life-threatening distracted him from this task. Oh, well. So many other things could have gone wrong. David arrived right as we entered the main building from baggage. Perfect timing! As soon as we got home, the kids took their tortoises outside to explore. They named them Rex and Tinkerbell. Here they are, looking a little rumpled from the trip but excited to finally be HOME!

Will post again soon. I think the first entry (hopefully) is the most difficult. Miss everyone so much!!!