Tips on coming to Germany

I've learned a lot about Germany since I've been here. Knowing some of it ahead of time would have made the beginning easier. Here are some of the things I've learned:

1) Restrooms at the autohofs and at some tourist locations can cost up to one Euro. They are always clean, always. The sooner you get over the cost, the better your time will be. There are roadside pit stops that don't charge, but after the first couple of times, we only used them in serious child emergencies. Usually there is pee on the floors and no soap or paper towels. The €1 is worth it, believe me.

2) Gas is expensive. If you're driving anywhere, I would figure ~2 times what one would pay in the U.S. to fill up your tank.

3) The best months to visit would be July and August if you like it hot, or September and October if you like it cooler. Most of the other months can be pretty rainy.

4) McDonald's is very expensive. But their fries and nuggets are delicious! And they have different sandwiches than we're used to, so it might be worth a visit if you're already a McDonald's fan to begin with.

5) If you're using the trains and the buses, there's a good chance you might mess up. Even if you don't mess up, the train or the bus schedule might be diverted, and you will have to go with it. I recommend that you have realistic expectations about how long it takes to travel from one place to another. It isn't always easy, but be patient with yourself and the transportation, and you'll get there eventually.

6) If you go anywhere near a festival, visit it. The festivals are fun and culturally interesting. Try a bratwurst mit brotchen, because that's what the Germans do. Also, the fries (called pommes, sounds like pom-es) are great.

An ideal vacation in Hesse (your itinerary)

There is so much to do in Germany, and even in the state of Hesse alone. A family could make a very enjoyable vacation out of a fair-weather trip to Hesse, and even without a car. The first thing you will want to do is download two crucial apps for your visit without a car: the DB Navigator app and the RMV app. (Search the Play Store for "RMV Hesse". It is the RMV Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund app that pops up.) Although it is not necessary, I recommend tying a credit card to both of these apps as soon as you can to facilitate ticket purchases. The next thing you will want to do is to buy a portable cell phone charger so that when you purchase e-tickets on RMV, your battery doesn't die on you and cost you a 60 Euro fine for not having a ticket for the train or bus. (That never happened to me, but over the course of two years, I saw several people get ticketed or get kicked off the train or bus.)

I got to know Hesse a good bit, so here are my recommendations for a family vacation there without a car:

1) Day 1: Travel. Red-eye flight from the U.S. to Frankfurt. Immediately upon arrival, withdraw at least 200 Euros in cash, because Hesse (and Germany in general) is very much a cash economy.

You may have one or more of these expressions on your face during and after a long day of travel to Germany.

2) Day 2: Romer Plaza. Use the RMV app to direct you to the right train from the airport to your AirBnB near Romer Plaza. Don't go to sleep! Leave your luggage at the AirBnB and go visit Romer plaza. Grab a cup of coffee at ConditCouture, and if you're up for it, enjoy a piece of cake. Sit outside if the weather is nice and enjoy the view.

After you've rested a bit at the cafe, visit the cathedral, its museum (including the second location), and the architecture of the "New Old Town". It is absolutely lovely. There are dozens of restaurants near the area. I recommend finding a place for schnitzel, which is German comfort food at its best. After lunch, I recommend either a stroll across the bridge to the Design museum, or a visit to the Goethe House for a good picture of life in the 1800s for the wealthy in Germany. I suggest that you do NOT visit the Schirn Museum on your most tired day! Get to bed early, but try to stay awake until at least 8:00 p.m. so that the rest of your trip is enjoyable.

Inside the cathedral is a photo that shows the destruction surrounding it following the bombings of WWII.
It is worth the visit just to see that photo.

3) Day 3: City change and Wiesbaden visit. On your first full day in Germany, leave Frankfurt and get a place to stay in Mainz for the next 4 nights. Check the RMV app to find the most efficient route. The train is easy enough, but will probably require a transfer. This short trip is a good way to learn how to navigate the public transportation system. If you mess up, it should not be a giant mistake.

After you check in to your "new home" for the next 4 nights, get back to the bus or train station and take a trip to Wiesbaden. The things to visit there include: Kochbrunnen, a well from the hot springs the town is named after, the Protestant Church, the Landeshauptmuseum, and a good place to eat, such as Hans im Gluck or Lovt & Liebe. If you did not get schnitzel in Frankfurt, or if you desire another evening of German cuisine, I recommend Paulaner's in Wiesbaden. It is a small chain and they are very family friendly. If you are there in the summer, visit Ciao Ciao for some of the best ice cream (ever!). There is also the Casino (kurhaus), if that is of interest to you. It did not fit my family, so we never visited it. These activities should easily fill up the rest of your afternoon.

A beautiful July day in Wiesbaden

4) Day 4: Rhein River Cruise. You can take a Rhein River Cruise from Mainz, and I highly recommend it. Overall, this will be a nice relaxing day, which will probably be welcome after those first 3 days full of aggressive travel and little rest. Bring water! It is possible to do a round-trip cruise, but I don't recommend it because you will be on a boat for about 8 (or more!) hours, and the afternoon will be just about the exact same as the morning. Instead, I recommend that you get tickets departing from Mainz, and get off at St. Goar (not to be confused with St. Goarshausen). Have a radler (beer with lemonade) on the cruise. At St. Goar, you will take a short walk to visit Burg Rheinfels, which is a nice castle to visit while in Germany. They are friendly, the upkeep is good, and the kitchen is downright fascinating (because it is a a medieval kitchen--imagine having to cook in it!). After your boat ride and your castle visit, take the train back to Mainz. It is an easy, beautiful train ride that doesn't require a transfer. If you want a convenient, low maintenance dinner, try Mosch Mosch. It's sort of like the Noodles & Co. in the U.S.

* Cultural note: If you go into Mosch Mosch, and many other restaurants in Germany, you will sit close to people you don't know. When you sit, greet them with "Hallo" or "Guten Tag" or "Guten Abend". When you leave, depart with a "Tschuss" or "Schon Tag" or "Auf Wiedersehen". That is what is polite.

Really. The Rhein River Cruise is fabulous.

FABULOUS.

5) Day 5: Mainz. Mainz has become one of my favorite cities. The things to visit there include: The Dom (cathedral), The Gutenberg Museum, The Schiff Museum (Museum of Ancient Seafaring), the Roman amphitheater, the incredibly blue Chagall windows at St. Stephen's Church, and the Isis and Magna Mater museum, which is underneath a small shopping mall, but really is a must-see because of its uniqueness. There are also other Roman ruins all around Mainz that could be of interest, depending on your time and energy levels.

Three of my favorite windows ever.

6) Day 6: Rudesheim Romantik Tour. This is a great day-long tour that gives you a different view of the Rhein River. Take the train from Mainz to Rudesheim, and follow the crowd to the ticket office for the Rudesheim Romantik Tour. It involves hiking, so bring sunscreen and water. It also involves 2 gondola rides, so I don't recommend it for small children, since the rides are open. But it is a nice day that will show you some beautiful views, some interesting architecture, and some really nice vineyards. Return to Mainz for your last night there. I hope you will be sad to be leaving.

A small part of the hike on the Rudesheim Romantik Tour. Beautiful. This was taken in August.

7) Day 7: Return trip to Frankfurt. Take the train back to Frankfurt, and deposit your luggage at your next sleeping place, once again near Romer Plaza. Visit the Schirn Museum and the Design Museum or Goethe House (whichever you didn't on Day 2). The Schirn Museum is world-renown and deserves your wakeful attention. I recommend checking the exhibitions on their website before taking your children, as some exhibitions may not be appropriate for children or youth. Also note that the Schirn Museum has a great play area for your young kids.

Did I ever mention in this blog how much I love the Schirn Museum? Nothing I could say about it would do its exhibitions justice. Go visit it.

8) Day 8: Return trip to the U.S. Take a morning flight home. Leave in the morning to get there in the afternoon.

Cochem and the goings on

Since October, we've had 20 diagnosed cases of strep infections of one sort or another in our family. That's not including ear infections, dental work, or common viral infections. I know it's 20 exactly because every time we go to the doctor, I have to pay the bill, fill out an insurance claim, and track it closely to make sure that I get paid, and get paid correctly.

But that's not the news!

The news is that I got my orders and we've reserved our plane tickets to come home! Woo hoo! The paperwork burden to get everybody moved is extremely high. I can't believe that Soldiers do it every three years. It certainly makes me appreciate them more.

We've sort of been in survival mode during this gray, rainy winter of sickness. But this is one of the first nice weekends coming up, and I feel like we're starting to get into "hope" mode. That's a better place to be! I'm in hope mode because I am really looking forward to some of my planned trips (God willing), and the rest of the family is really looking forward to Waynesboro (and to speaking English again, if you're Griffin!). I know my family back home is really looking forward to our return. Thank goodness they are!

Work at USAREUR has been fabulous, and I'm really enjoying my current project, but I'm also looking forward to going back to acquisition work. It's interesting in it's own way.

I don't think it's too early to look back, and I can honestly say that I'd do it all over again if I knew then what I know now. It has been a really great experience. Very, very challenging sometimes. Yet certainly worth it.

Yesterday we took a little day trip to a town called Cochem. Very cute. We visited a little mustard museum (really a store) and had some delicious mustard and wurstchen. Then we walked up to the castle there, although we didn't take the tour since Lilly was just not in the mood. It was a great walk and worth the trip, though. The views of the town and the river were great.

What I will miss about living in Germany

I'm getting so close to coming home.

True, it's still 5.32602 months away, but these months are going to go by so fast. I've been thinking about my life back home and what I might miss about living here.

The most obvious thing, I think, is the ability to travel Europe so easily, except that I'm not really sure that I'll miss it. I've traveled quite a bit so far, and I've seen a lot here. It's been incredible, but the reason I'm not so sure I'll miss traveling in Europe is because I haven't yet taken my family around the United States. Until coming here to live, I had been intimidated about travel by our number and age of our children, so we hadn't traveled much since the twins were born. Now, I have no doubt that we're capable of going long distances in the vehicle as a family, and if I forget the luggage, or my swimsuit, or whatever, we'll be fine and still have fun. So while I've certainly enjoyed traveling in Europe so much, I'm also looking forward to traveling in the States.

Public transportation is indeed very good here, but I don't think I'll miss it because, frankly, herding our four kids onto a train or bus is stressful, and I'd rather just keep them all contained in the family minivan. Our trip to Italy was pretty fantastic, and although driving there was a little bit stressful (there are no rules!), I think it was much more convenient for us than if  we had tried to fly and use trains and buses once we were there. That holds true for everywhere we've been so far, I think. At this point, I pretty much only use public transportation when it's me and only one kid, and usually only when I don't want the stress of trying to find a parking space.

I will probably miss the German food. The fries here are so fresh and yummy. The schnitzel is tender and inexpensive. The sausage is quite tasty. They have really good mustards and very cheap, fresh bread. And their chocolate! I like Hershey's chocolate, but compared to Ritter, Lindt, Milka, Kinder, and even some of the store brands, Hershey's is pretty unimaginative.

I will certainly miss the fact that they have some sort of festival every time you turn around. It's very much an outdoor society, regardless of the weather. I feel like I've learned to do things without looking at the forecast, and I think that is a good lesson to learn.

I will miss Mainz, and specifically St. Stephan's Cathedral and the Isis and Magna Mater museum, especially with the volunteer there who has a PhD and is a wealth of knowledge and speaks excellent English.

In general, I will miss all the amazing cathedrals. I've seen so many, but how many have I not seen?! Hundreds, probably, considering that most of the big cities have 3 or more in each of them.

I will miss the history here. I love to see the Roman influence and to try to imagine real people walking around these places a thousand years ago or more.

I will miss the radiator that is also a towel rack in my bathroom. That is such a nice creature comfort to have every day!

I will certainly miss our friend Ken. He's my coworker also on this rotation, and he has proven to be a great source of wisdom in every area of my life. I know I will miss him, but I have so many friends to go back to. I can't wait to see my friends and family!!! I am so excited for so many happy reunions.

I will miss the walking zone (fußganger) in Wiesbaden. But a new sidewalk was put in near our house just before we left, and I look forward to taking evening walks with the family again back home.

I will miss being so close to Frankfurt, or any big city, really. I still intend to get back to Frankfurt again before I leave and visit the Schirn museum and the Museum of Modern Art (MMK). Although it's not as close, D.C. is also nice and has a lot of free stuff that I look forward to taking the family to.

David said that he will miss the Wiesbaden Schlachthof (an old slaughterhouse turned music venue), Thomann Music store with its 19% discount, and access to good beer.

One other thing I'll miss, that isn't actually relevant to being in Germany, is the age of my children. We made a lot of memories in this house, and since we're leaving it, I won't be able to think, "Remember that time when?..." I'm sure I'll do that anyway, but in a little way, we'll be leaving a piece of those memories behind. But we will have many more memories to make ahead of us, God willing.

So there are some things I'll miss, but in most cases, there are things back home that can fill the gap (no Kinder hippos, though!). And nothing compares to being close to my family and friends again! I'm getting very excited already!!

Some random cute pictures:

Walking home from dinner with a friend one night.  I thought this looked cool.

Worms!

By that, I mean the city in Germany where Luther was accused of being a heretic, not that my kids are infected with something alive like they were in this post, fortunately!

I mentioned that I was meeting my first boss in the Army for the first time since 2007. It was so fun to see and to catch up with Greg for the first time in over ten years. Worms is a small sightseeing location, but I was looking for something not too far from his hotel since I knew I was going to have an arduous day of travel the day before. (And it turns out, so did he.)

It was such a nice day! We saw several statues, including the memorial to Luther that had been built in the 1800s, two churches, and the Rhein River. The kids were NOT on their best behavior today, and that was frustrating, but it was probably at least in part due to the fact that I had been gone all week. We had a nice dinner at the Schnitzel Hut, which included, for perhaps the first time in anything except Italian restaurants around here, a genuine kids' menu. The kids got hamburgers, and they looked delicious!

After the Catholic Church declared Luther a heretic, he escaped in disguise to a remote castle, where he continued to write prolifically. He was, I read, one of the first people of fame who was not royal (we're talking 1521 for the Diet of Worms), and his friends helped get his papers printed and distributed throughout Germany.

Luther didn't intend to start a spiritual revolution. He wasn't seeking fame. But God used him in such a way that resulted in so many people knowing God personally as opposed to only knowing Him through a priest. How will God use you?  He already knows!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  -Jeremiah 29:11

Inside Cathedral of St Peter

Ouch, dude.

Left: Cathedral of St Peter, Right: Church of St Martin

Proof: They love each other!

Martin Luther Memorial

World War I Memorial

Nibelungenturm. Pretty Place.

Bavaria is beautiful

Bavaria is beautiful, and it reminds me of Pennsylvania.

I'm in a different hotel this week because my regular one was booked. I'm a bit far from Grafenwohr Training Area, but in a way, the change in hotel is a bit of a blessing. I have such a lovely drive from the hotel to work and back. I'm only here for three nights because I'm cutting my trip short since my friends are coming. But on the way back to the hotel from work tonight, I stopped and did a very short hike.

It's actually 91° outside right now (at 8 p.m.), and I wasn't carrying water, so I kept my little walk very short. But it was nice! And we're all coming back to Bavaria in October with one of my friends, and I can't wait! It's going to be be so beautiful in the fall. In fact, David and I were in Garmisch in the fall in 2007, and we just loved it so much. I think it's my favorite place in Germany.

Of course, I can't legitimately have a favorite place here. I haven't explored very much of it (not like I have the United States), but of all the places I've been, I think Garmisch is my favorite. Overall, Bavaria is friendlier, prettier, slower, and easier than where I live now. Reminds me of Pennsylvania!

Today was a beautiful day!

... I'm home now, and I think, if I'm not too much of a chicken, I'm going to get a different hotel each time I go to Bavaria from now on. Except if there's going to be snow, I'll just do what's familiar. But I enjoyed myself so much with the newness of the hotel and being even more in the country, I'm thinking I should do it again and again.

Do you think it's a good idea, or do you think I'm crazy?

Trier take two

You may remember that I took the family to Trier one day last year. (If you missed that post, you can read it here: https://onegreendoggy.blogspot.com/2017/11/trier-germany-and-some-other-stuff.html)

I remember that day was pretty drizzly out. Trier had been decorated for Christmas, and that was adorable, but what a difference sunshine and blue sky can make! Also, not to pound this into the ground too much, but what a difference traveling with just the two of us made! When the family went there last year, we didn't go up Porta Nigra, we didn't go in the church, and we barely made it to the amphitheatre. I was still so happy to have gone! But this time, we went up Porta Nigra, we went into the church (the part that was open), we went shopping, we ate, we went to the Roman baths, and we went to the amphitheatre! Incredible! And to top it off, I parked out of the main area for free. We had to walk a bit, but I didn't have to squeeze the van into a tiny old garage and get stressed about scraping it. And I didn't have to pay €20 for parking! Win win!

Going home from Trier was easy enough because as I mentioned earlier, Michelle and I still had another special day together. It was going to be great!

Porta Nigra

Detail inside Porta Nigra

Michelle inside Porta Nigra.  I'm missing her now. 

View of Porta Nigra from inside Porta Nigra

St. Peter's Cathedral of Trier

Pipes!

Detail inside cathedral

Wow.

Egyptian Geese near the Roman baths.  Neat!

Hallway inside the Roman baths

View of Roman baths with picture of them in the 15th century

Roman amphitheatre