In the footsteps of the 82nd Airborne Division

On February 23rd Clayton and I decided to undertake a 13.6 mile walk through snow, mud, ice and treacherous terrain in retracing the steps of the 82nd Airborne during the Battle of the Bulge (more specifically the 505th parachute infantry regiment and the 551st parachute infantry battalion). Boy, what an experience it was!! The path we took lead us through the villages of Basse-Bodeux, Fosse, Grand-Halleux, Rochelinval, Dairomont and Reharmont. With nothing more than a few snacks packed in a backpack and a cup of vegetable soup for lunch, we proceeded to cover the same ground that these parachute infantries covered in a span of 4 days . . . only we did it in a total of 6 hours (of course we were not fighting for our lives at the time).

One of the highlights of the trip was a remembrance ceremony that took place in Fosse where we were able to meet two veterans of the 505th parachute infantry regiment who fought there.

The battle in Rochelinval cost the 551st more than half of its remaining men as the 551st were ordered to attack the village over open ground ant without artillery support. After this battle the 551st was absorbed into the 82nd Airborne Division as out of the initial strength of 800 officers and enlisted only 110 were left. The battalion was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation in 2001 recognizing its accomplishment. According to paratrooper Don Garrigues their first days in the Battle of the Bulge were miserable: "no sleep, frozen feet, trench foot, knee deep snot, cold food and hallucinations." The frozen feet and knee deep snow we were first hand witness to.

 

Arriving back to the mini we were thoroughly soaked, freezing, exhausted and convinced that we did not wish to experience any more "steps" in anyone’s division.

 

(Special thank you to my co-worker Ann Shields for posting the announcement at work and for the many handouts/books she gave me on the subject.  You Rock!!)

Amsterdam in a day

On January 5 we went to the city of Amsterdam (the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands) . . . . what can I say about Amsterdam that is not inappropriate to post on my blog. . ?!?

I guess I could tell you about the historical buildings of Amsterdam . . . It was here in Amsterdam that the Frank family hid in the walls of one small house and where the diary of Anne Frank was written.  We were able to view that same house from the outside as well as a statue of Anne Frank.  Had we wanted to see the inside bad enough we could have stood in a line that was several hours long . . . we decided, however, that it would be more beneficial to see the rest of the city as we were only there on a day tour.

Westerkerk is a protestant chrurch built from 1620-1631.  It is here in this church where the famous artist Rembrandt Van Rijn is buried. We were able to find a bit of piece inside this church as we sat and enjoyed the music and remaining Christmas decorations.

 

 

We walked by the Royal Palace, which is one of three palaces in the Netherlands at the disposal of Queen Beatrix by Act of Parliament. The palace was built as a city hall during the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century. The palace is open to visitors most of the year . . . just not when we were there. . .

Amsterdam is built on a series of canals which makes the city quite lovely.  There are also more bikes than cars.

 

There is a 1956 World War 2 monument set up on Dam Square which was quite moving. In the words of Wikipedia,” The central element of the monument is a concrete conical pillar 22 metres in height, covered entirely by white travertine stone. On the front of the pillar is a relief entitled De Vrede ("Peace"), consisting of four chained male figures, representing the suffering endured during the war. To either side of these central figures are two male sculptures representing members of the Dutch resistance, the left figure symbolizing the resistance by the intelligentsia and the right figure symbolizing the resistance by the working classes. Weeping dogs are at their feet, representing suffering and loyalty. Above the central relief is a sculpture of a woman with a child in her arms and doves flying around her, representing victory, peace, and new life. A relief of the back side of the pillar shows doves ascending into the sky, symbolizing the liberation.”

 

The red light district is as crazy as everything you have heard . . . and we witness it all . . . probably not going back.  *yikes* There are comfy “coffee shops” which specialize in a product other than “coffee”.  Window shopping has a whole new meaning in Amsterdam.  *double yikes* Even the tourist shops throughout the city held many different items that should only be seen in the back corner of some dark, dingy, heavily guarded against anyone-younger-than-18 store.  I was in a state of shock and it was with a sigh of relief that I left that city . . . it is probably a lovely place in the summer . . I just don’t think I will go back to see if it is or not . . . 

On the way to the city, our tour bus stopped at a cheese factory that also produced the classic wooden clogs.  It was delightful! We were given demonstrations of how the clogs were made as well as the cheese.  We also received samples of the cheese which caused us to break down a buy a few.  I also bought a neat half-made shoe for the storage of my pens and pencils.

Salzburg, Austria

While on our "Christmas" tour of Bavaria we decided on a little visit to Salzburg. The main highlight of this trip was to see the Hohensalzburg Castle . . . as well as the lovely Christmas market I was told about. We used our handy-dandy GPS to get us into the country but had no idea where to go after that. There were no clearly marked signs for Hohensalzburg Castle and we ended up driving in circles for about 30 min or so. We finally parked in the first place we could find at the base of the mountain and figured if we kept walking up we would eventually find it. . . and we did!! It was a little deserted as it was the day after Christmas and it was raining, but we were able to eat lunch as well as visit several rooms inside the fortress which were more like a museum of various items that would have been found during that time period.

 

(view of the Alps from inside the castle)

 

 

(Salzurg city)

 

 

(another view of the Alps)

Hohensalzburg is one of the largest castles in all of Europe and construction originally began in 1077. It was built atop the Festungsberg mountain (of which we managed to walk both up AND down) and has some interesting history. In the 19th century, it was used as barracks, storage depot and dungeon before being abandoned as a military outpost in 1861. It also served as a prison during World War I.

 

We then walked down into the city center for the fabulous Christmas market. It was huge!! My husband bought me a smallish ceramic mushroom for our house and we were able to visit the Salzburg Cathedral. We then walked all the way back to our car on the other side of the city. . . we must have walked about 4-5 miles that day. . .no joke!! I just asked Clayton! (he keeps me from exaggerating too much)

Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles

Shortly after Christmas we visited the fairy tale castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. They were amazing!! They are within walking distance of each other. . . which is what we did. . . a 30 min up-hill trek that left us exhausted, sweaty, red-faced and almost late for our tour. . .but i digress. . .

We first went to Hohenschwangau castle and since I am no history buff I have copied and pasted what Wikipedia has to say about it. .

"Hohenschwangau Castle was built on the remains of the fortress Schwangau, which was first mentioned in historical records dating from the 12th Century. A family of knights was responsible for the construction of the medieval fortress, and it served as the seat of the local government of Schwangau. In 1523, the schloss was described as having walls which were too thin to be useful for defensive purposes. After the demise of the knights in the 16th Century, the fortress changed hands several times. The decay of the fortress continued until it finally fell into ruins at the beginning of the 19th Century.

In April 1829, Crown Prince Maximilian (the later King Maximilian II of Bavaria) discovered the historic site during a walking tour and reacted enthusiastically to the beauty of the surrounding area. He acquired the ruins - then still known as Schwanstein - in 1832. In February 1833, the reconstruction of the Castle began, continuing until 1837, with additions up to 1855.

Hohenschwangau was the official summer and hunting residence of Maximilian, his wife Marie of Prussia, and their two sons Ludwig (the later King Ludwig II of Bavaria) and Otto (the later King Otto I of Bavaria)."

 

I can say that it was very beautiful inside and out! There were many fabulous "gifts" to the family on display throughout the castle. These "gifts" were such things as pure gold statues, carved ivory images, sterling silver table centerpieces intricately made, etc. Clayton stated that these gifts were "probably worth millions each!" but seemed to be diminished by the beauty and glory of the castle.

 

Our next stop (after the aforementioned 30 min walk) was Neuschwanstein castle. This castle was built in the 19th century for King Ludwig II who had grown up at Hohenschwangau castle. We were told that he was quite the romantic. His personal bedchamber was adorned with murals that told the story of Tristan and Isolde. This castle took over two decades to build (and was never really finished) but King Ludwig II only spent about 170 days in the castle before his untimely death. We were told that he was arrested at his home and claimed to be clinically insane due to being a recluse and spending extravagantly on his several castles. He was then found dead several months later in a lake along with this psychiatrist. Hummm . . . was it murder? Was it suicide? Apparently it is a mystery that only the royal family knows the answer to.

 

 

We were not supposed to photograph the inside of the castle, but the beauty was too great not to share. We went all "ninja" and snapped several photos without anyone being the wiser :-) This castle was also the inspiration behind Walt Disney's Cinderella castle and reminded me so much of the Beauty and the Beast castle on the inside. Anyone who knows me very well would know just how happy and excited I was during the tour of this amazing masterpiece.

 

LRMC - my new place of employment

 

My new life here in Germany has begun as I am not settling in to my position as a Labor and Delivery nurse at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.  It has so far been a pretty great place to work!  There are definitely differences between the "civilian" hospital and the "military" hospital. . most being with charting.  I have some great co-workers and the physicians are actually pleasant!!  Imagine that! OB docs that are respectful of their fellow colleagues!  It is truly amazing to work on a unit that you are not constantly belittled by those you are working with.  I still have a lot of adjusting to do and I am sure that will take some time. . . but I am enjoying working my way into the fabric of this new position.  There are some great perks working here as well!  Not only is this the only military facility to include all three branches of military (army, navy and air force) but all wounded warriors from down range and around the world are seen here and LRMC.  It is a great honor to serve these warriors in any way possible!  We also get to meet some pretty cool people!  For the holiday visit this year I was able to meet several celebrities.  Kelly Pickler (one of the contestants in American Idol several years ago and is continuing quite successfully in her music career), Iliza Shlesinger (a comedian that recently was on "the last comic standing"), Ross Detwiler and Craig Stammen (both pitchers for the Washington Nationals), and Matt Hendricks (NHL hockey player from the Washington Capitals).

 

 

Nikon 1

After much thought (and since my broken down Olympus point and shoot camera is still packed up in the middle of nowhere) Clayton and I decided to get me my Christmas present early. . . a sweet Nikon 1!!  I was hesitant at first. . but we are living in Europe after all and I need to remember these moments for the rest of my life! . . right??!?

We took the pups out to play (which by the way they absolutely LOVE the snow) and I decided to try out my little gift for the first time . . . here is what I came up with :

 

 

 

Also took some nature shots just for practice. . . and it is absolutely wonderously winter!

 

 

 

 

House Hunter International. . . the not-so-glamorous version

It has been a roller coaster ride of emotions here in Germany as we try to locate our new dwelling place for the next two years.  Before arriving I thought it would be "neat", "cool", "an experience" to live in a traditional German house. . . maybe an old one with some character and history. . . . I didn't want one of these brand new houses that all look the same.  Boy have I changed my mind!!  Our first house we visited on the second day we were here was one I had had my eye on for a few weeks before we even arrived.  Our sponsor drove us 30 min away to the town of Kusel to view it.  From the outside it was charming!!  It was a large (6 bedroom, 3 bathroom) house with three stories and a couple of parking spaces.  Upon entering the "house" we found that most of the flooring consisted of the rubber "bubbled up" floors one might see in a medical clinic.  The few rooms that did not have this flooring were instead covered with bright blue carpet, thoroughly stained.  There were three bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs with the kitchen and the remaining bedrooms upstairs.  There was also a rather large basement.  There was no real dinning room or living room, I guess one of the bedrooms would suffice.  The overall opinion of the house was that it was just a renovated office complex.  No to that one.

The next house we went to see was a couple days later.  Again, it was huge!!  I think it was over 7 bedrooms and 3 baths, three stories AND a basement.  This house was recently renovated and had a "spanish" type flair to it.  It was ok.  Clayton loved it.  The walls were all tan. . . reminded me of an apartment building.  There was a definite living and dinning room in this house but it was all separated with walls. . . mad the house seem closed in to me. . . and we didn't need that much room.  It was also oil heating so we would have to pay and upfront price of $1K for oil.  I wasn't sold. . .
Unfortunately I did not save a picture of this house and I think it might already be taken as I can no longer find it on the website.


Gries, what a nice little house it was . . . wasn't actually little, but it was nice.  Had a good sized yard, big living room, white walls and plenty of light.  We were all excited by the end of the visit only to find out that there was no high speed Internet access . . . there went our hopes of moving into this house.








We set an appointment for a townhouse in downtown K-town and drove by the building days before our appointment.  It was located in the heart of the city with no parking spaces and we would enter the house on a road that seemed to be no larger than an alley.  Trash bags lined the street.  Not what we were looking for.

Next up . . . a charming, renovated old farmhouse located about 30 min away from work.  I had been e-mailing the owner for about a month and thought I owed it to him to at least come visit the place.  It was the worst yet!!  The inside of the house smelled like urine!  The heater was broken ("It will be working when you move it" we were informed), the backyard fence was broken, the banister upstairs was broken and he forgot to mention that it was a duplex.  He also used the word "renovated" quite loosely as the only thing that was renovated was some cheap pergo floors upstairs and some new tile in the bathroom.  It was depressing.  Upon getting back into the care I informed Clayton, "I LOVE
it!!"  You can image the look he gave me. . .

There was a beautiful house about 20 min south to the hospital and we made an appointment to see it this last Monday. . . "This could be the one" I thought.  It looked to be a newer house, had plenty of room and parking places, nice big back yard for the dogs, open fireplace, whirlpool tub, etc.  Unfortunately I called Monday afternoon to see if he could show it a little earlier than the appointment time and was informed that it was taken as of 30 min ago. . . emotional roller coaster once more.

Otterberg is a beautiful, colorful, and quaint little city that we immediately fell in love with!  There was a cottage-style house there that we made an appointment to see.  It really reminded me of 112 C Street from the outside (no brick though).  It had a really nice two car carport, which is important as it snows here and I have never lived in the snow, and a nice sized back yard with trees and a stream running through it.  When we stepped inside I wanted it.  Yes, it was small. . . yes the basement kinda smelled nasty (just slightly). . .but it was lovely! Before we even got to the upstairs we went outside to view the back yard.  We were discussing the babies (mika and milo) when the owners said. . "oh! no dogs! Absolutely no dogs!" and he wouldn't budge even though they are tiny and cute and sweet.  We left before we saw the upstairs :-(

I found a historical home that was close to 400 years old. . was listed as "on the edge of the forrest", old renovated mill.  Of course there were no pictures with the post.  We decided to check it out at about 6 pm one night (6 pm means pitch black dark here).  After getting lost several times even with the GPS we had to finally meet the owners in town and then they took us to the house from there.  It was pretty incredible from the outside.  It was a 3 story brick building with the old water mill still attached on the outside.  The inside had very tall ceilings with wood beams across the top, wood floors and a great staircase.  Unfortunately it also had a terrible kitchen straight out of the 70's complete with nasty wall paper.  The bathrooms left much to be desired as well.  This house had SO MUCH POTENTIAL, but I wouldn't dare touch it as a rental.  Oh the things I could do if I actually owned the house!

The house we are currently considering is a brand new house still under construction.  We did a walk through even though it is not ready to be moved into yet and it is really, really nice . . . and did I mention BRAND NEW?!??!  None of the dark, stained carpet, no mustard yellow bathrooms, nasty wall paper, smells of mold and dust . . . and no finders fee!  (If you rent a house through a realestate agent they charge an astronomical fee!!  Like over $2,500 straight out of your pocket!!  No thanks!!)  The owner is fine with the "little ones" and said we could paint the walls as well, as long as they are painted white again when we move out.  It is looking like a really good possibility. . .we just have to make sure high speed Internet is definitely available.  There are plenty of bedrooms in the house (5) so please come visit me!! (just wait a month or two for us to move in. . . we don't have furniture yet.  Still in the possession of the ocean carrier)