Another Amazing City: Amberg

When we found out that we were ACTUALLY moving to Germany, we went wild planning all the places that we would finally visit.  And those plans are still in place!  But there are an amazing amount of beautiful little villages and cities in this area and we probably won't be spreading our wings for a while!

We have found a house (YAY!!!) in a town called Hahnbach about 10 minutes from the Viseck post.  Great location for Chopper getting to the base and for the elementary school as well.  We actually haven't explored any of that town yet -- I guess we're waiting until we move in!  And our move in date is September 1st.  The current tenant has not quite left and then a few things need to be repaired before we take ownership.  I'm not EXCITED about another month in temporary living but I am grateful that it's in an apartment and not a single hotel room.

So now that we have transportation (no, not the van -- we bought a second vehicle), we've been getting out on Saturdays for my own sanity as much as for the exploration.  Amberg is probably the largest city closer to us although I wasn't expecting what it was.  We stuck to the central square of course, but it also has a Real (like a Walmart), OBI (Home Depot) and larger versions of the grocery stores like Aldi, etc.  I was surprised as we walked around to see H&M, Esprit, other larger clothing stores, and I imagine that Amberg is where I'll go for major shopping as well as for medical stuff (which I have yet to figure out!).

Ok so all of this history stuff I'm getting from Wikipedia because everything else is in German!!

Apparently the first mention of Amberg in written record is in the 1000's and it's had some notable times in Bavarian history and in the French Revolution of all things!  It blows my mind that these places are so old honestly!

Ok so the thing is too that to my tourist eye, everything should be labeled with what it is, when it was built, etc.  Even if it is in German!  But what I'm certainly learning as we wander around, is that what to me if exciting and new and interesting, is just a part of life here.  So perhaps the origin and meaning of this fountain is well-known already to the people of Amberg.  Or perhaps I could have found the information in the Rathaus and not been able to read it anyway!  But basically what I'm saying is that things are not labelled and so I never really know what I'm looking at -- just that it's all beautiful.

I do know that this building is the Town Hall done in the Gothic style and built in 1358.  Crazy!

And this church is St. Martin.  The tower is completely covered by scaffolding and sheeting -- I don't know if it's renovations or cleaning and repair.  Many of these churches are pretty simple on the outside although large, but elaborate on the inside.  

This one did have a lot of statues around doorways and windows though.

Once you walk in, the main section of the church was separated from the back (?) by these beautiful scrolled gates.  And then of course the decoration.

And the ceilings!!

I adore stained glass!!  Much of what is depicted often involves saints or is events that I'm not sure about but I did recognize one as the baptism of Christ that was a very interesting portrayal.

This church was designated as a basilica -- I need to learn Catholicism as well as history to understand it all -- but I looked it up and a source online says that a basilica is a church basically designated as a special one by the pope because of it's spiritual, historical, or architectural significance.  Once designated, it remains a basilica.  Now I don't know the reason St. Martin's is a basilica -- architecturally speaking it seems to me (uneducated as I am) to be similar to the others we have seen in the area.  But it did have two interesting things that we haven't yet seen in other churches.  The first was this coffin/sarcophagus of an individual behind the main altar,

and the second was this person buried in a niche off the side -- he's in the glass case at the bottom under the white tablecloth.

 

 And that's him!  He was dressed pretty elaborately in red and white and lace, but again, not knowing much about Catholicism in general, and not seeing a sign that explained things, I'm not sure if he's the reason it's a basilica or if there's another.

In addition to stained glass, gold work, etc. there were also some incredible paintings.

And "stuff" from long ago.

My 2 years of high school German hasn't done much for me (although it's better than nothing!) and my 2 years of Latin s no better!!  I imagine if we travel into France that my French will be ridiculous as well!

The pillars and space of these places is always awe-inspiring -- with a little William head in the pew for perspective.

Abby loves the tiny doors that are everywhere!

Amberg is on the Vils River and although it's not something you'd actually want to get in, it's pretty with all these houses right on the banks and practically in the water.

Gelato break!

Going out from the market square are lots of streets that are pedestrian only and we followed one in particular that was all shopping at the ground level and I'm sure apartments above.  We totally could see my brother and sister Danny and Denise living here!

I love these parts that protrude from buildings -- I imagine that on the inside they make the best nooks!!  And they're all covered in flower boxes.

As we came to the end of the road there was a second church and across from it, this very modern, recently constructed library.  It's a good example of what Germany seems to me to be -- a mix of old and new in an eclectic, fascinating way.

I don't know the name of this second church, but where the first was gold and dark, this one was light and carvings and airy.

Before we left, a group of people came in and were getting candles out behind the altar and preparing for something.  Part of me wanted to tell them not to touch anything!  But we went outside and walked around the outside and then began hearing organ music.  We started to go back in thinking maybe it was a practice for Sunday or something but when we opened the door that group was having  a baby baptism so we didn't interrupt.  The priest was chanting/singing something to the music but it was a tune that we sing in church -- unfortunately I couldn't place the song that we sing!

Megan for scale and because she won't take pictures on purpose!

Just trying to soak it all in -- literally.

Back down the street and taking fun pictures at the library.

They have a statue walk that goes around another part of the town that we want to get back and explore and when we arrived in the afternoon they were just packing up booths selling flowers, vegetables, etc. in the market square so I suppose we need to go on a Saturday morning sometime too.  But with 5 years expected here, we'll have plenty of time to explore the in's and out's since we'll be so near to it.

Just another example of modern meets ancient right?  Original city wall and someone's graffiti.  Teenagers can be hooligans anywhere I guess!!

This Week in the Whittacre Home . . .

William continues to lose his mind over every little thing that doesn't go exactly the way it's supposed to in his 4 year old mind.  And I can't escape from it because I can't drive!!  We're going to remedy that this week though.  

Actually, that's some good new too -- we got a 2nd car!!  It's a Honda CRV (we do love our Hondas) and it's kind've a maroon color.  All the car seats do fit in the back seat although just barely but it works and since it will mainly be for Chopper going to and from work, it's not a big deal.  He is taking it to work of course so I'm still stuck without transportation other than my own two legs but we're finding more parks and taking short trips to the Germany grocery or on to the base to the library so we'll survive.  And it means that we can really start house-hunting!!  That's the exciting thing -- I'd love to find a house and know where I need to register the kids for school and where we're finally going to call home for good!!

Vilseck and Grafenwoehr both host army bases that are connected by what they call the "tank trail" and currently we are living in Graf but Chopper works at Vilseck.  So Saturday we drove to the town of Vilseck to look around and get a feel for the area.  I think that we'll be concentrating our house hunting in that area -- it is absolutely beautiful -- farming country and hills and forest.  Vilseck itself has a whole system of walking and biking trails that we'd like to explore (2 out of 3 children yesterday were grumpy so we didn't do a lot except figure out they are there), but we stayed in the city center for the most part and wandered a little bit.

Ok this is actually a picture from Nabburg that Georgina took.  You can't really tell but that's a sandstone carving of a monk or something behind us.

How we squeeze into the car.

The city center of Vilseck with their clock tower.

I just loved this door!!!  There are a lot of interesting doors actually -- a mix of old and modern, double, and teeny tiny -- we don't know why some of them are small!

Closer on the tower.

Vilseck actually boasts a castle!  It's not a castle like what you get in the "bring tourists to Germany" pictures, but it's a real castle.  And this was one of those moments where I wish that I could speak and read German because there were informational signs and I have no idea what they said!! 

A view of the castle from far away.  We did watch a video online about Vilseck and the inside of the castle has been renovated and is used for various community functions.  The banner hanging from the tower is about something that's coming up I think.  It has a whole bunch of people's faces on it.

I just love these windows in the roof!

We took a bit of a walking trail and found this piece of art at a resting point.  It makes me wonder if there are others along the rest of the trail.

 The tower from far away and Abby on the walking trail.  I just love the green in this area!  Winter will be interesting -- a lot of the forest is evergreen although it's not pine trees like I think of them in the west, they're long-boughed droopy ones.  I can't really think of a better way to describe them!

Going along the curtain wall

 Headed back into town with an unhappy William.

When we went around the square, I looked down this alley and there was a church at the end!!  So we had to go check it out.

 The view back down the street from the church -- it was set a little bit on a hill although we didn't see it from the city center.

 The front of this memorial says "Our heroes" and those lists of people are from both World Wars.  Vilseck is not a big city and regardless of right and wrong, it's very sad to see so many names of young men killed in a war. It was a very nice memorial.

Inside, another elaborate church!!!  I found out after our last excursion that a cathedral is the church that is the seat of a Bishop (thanks Krista!!!).  Since I'm pretty sure that these two small towns are not seats of Bishops, I'm assuming that these churches are just regular churches.  But the thing is, this particular one was built in 1407 and renovated in 1752 and so you have the accepted style for churches in that day, not to mention hundreds of years for people to make donations for ornamentation and upkeep.  So really, it makes sense.  Especially as a community probably revolved around the church.  It's certainly not like that now, but historically I think it makes sense.  I really REALLY want to take some classes in European history.  Maybe get a master's degree while we're living here.  Now that would be awesome!!

There was no one inside but there was evidence that it is still a used church -- hymnals and prayerbooks and bulletins with announcements stacked neatly in the back.

View from the back with Megan for scale - also because she won't take any pictures looking at me and smiling so I do the best I can!

Don't know if this is a relic or a piece of the church that has been preserved perhaps from a war or fire or something.  It was definitely a burned something or other.  The history behind these places and I have no idea!!!!!

Yay an English translation!!!  I think (but I'm not sure) the third language at the bottom is Czech.  We're only an hour from the border of The Czech Republic and a lot of people go to Prague for vacation.

Even these little towns we could probably spend hours just wandering all the little streets and I totally wood but the kids get really whiny about how much walking we're doing . . . 

At the back was a small graveyard with very nice headstones with what appeared to be family names on them.  It's behind a gate so I couldn't get any further in than this.

I love cobblestoned streets!

Tower view again

Abby and the flowers -- she likes to take pretty pictures!

We stopped at a bakery on our way back to the car (surprise surprise) and then drove home.  Chopper took the kids to a park to play so I could get some quiet alone time and they got caught in a rain shower so I didn't get as much as I wanted/needed but it ended up being a good day for everyone.  Now as we start the house hunting in earnest tomorrow, I'd really like to live over there.  I like this side of the base too and in the end it probably doesn't really matter, we'll bloom where we're planted, but it would be nice to be close to work and school especially.  They will bus the kids to the schools on base but I don't want a really long bus ride for them if we can help it. 

I haven't seen the rest of Germany yet of course but I love this area.  I love the peace and quiet and laid back feeling.  I love the bells that ring in every town and village, the winding streets, the green landscape, the views, the history.  Chopper and I have wanted to visit Europe for a long time and we've always said we've wanted to do England and Germany especially.  I am constantly grateful right now for this opportunity to live here and explore so much of an area that I've wanted to even just visit!  William's screaming will hopefully come to an end and the kids will adjust -- oh Megan made a friend today!!  Quick story -- there's a woman in the ward who has been amazingly helpful to me online and she told me that her 8 year old daughter has been praying for more friends.  Today we met them at church and I told Megan after we met them briefly and were getting ready to go to primary that this other girl (Eliza) looked shy too and perhaps she could be friendly and get to know her.  At the end of primary, I asked how the day had gone and she told me that she and Eliza are already friends!  They apparently bonded over the fact that they both collect and play with Littlest Pet Shop toys.  It warms my heart to see how well she is doing when I have been so worried about her.  I think that school in the fall will still be difficult but she's really doing well overall and that's another blessing to be grateful for.

Food and Language

Chopper and I have both had exposure to the German language prior to moving here.  I took 2 years in high school (would have been 4 but my family moved and it wasn't offered at my high school in Virginia) and Chopper had 2 years in college.  But A) when you don't use it, and B) when you hear it spoken by native speakers . . . well let's just say it's been pretty nonexistent for both of us.

I have decided though that I don't just want to try to get by, I really want to try to become pretty fluent.  I have never felt so out of place in an area and I think that the primary factor is language.  It is true that the majority of German Nationals that I have spoken to so far have a decent command of English or are downright amazingly fluent.  I know that they start English as a 2nd language in their schools at a young age but it is still very impressive.  But I feel like an idiot trying to speak and hoping I get the sounds and the words right and I really don't like not being able to read signs!!  Especially with the things that we're seeing -- there are often informational signs and I want to know the history and things about these buildings and areas!  

I have a new found EMPATHY for people who come to the United States as adults and use their children as translators.  As an adult it is very difficult to learn and understand quickly.  I know we've only been here 2 weeks so far but I do feel a strong desire to be able to communicate well.

So that's the first thing.

The next is food.  Oh food.  I am so grateful that we are staying in an apartment and I don't have to drag the kids out for 3 meals a day.  But I am certainly not complaining about the food!

Schnitzel is awesome!! (That's it on the left).  Spaetzle (top right) is ok but the gravy that it was in was too strong for my taste.  Chopper says that German food speaks to his southern soul and I have to admit, there are similarities!  But I think this is better!  We're limited in our restaurant choices by walking distance but have found German, Greek, and Italian that we like and have yet to get a reservation at the Mexican restaurant that all the Americans like and apparently the Germans don't go to!  

We have also discovered the joys of gelato.  There's a shop called Penguino's Eis just around the corner and it's less than 1 Euro for a single scoop cone so we kind've go there a lot.  They have amazing flavors -- have  i blogged about this before?  I know it's been on Facebook so I lose track sorry.  We've had typical flavors but our favorites so far have been the fruit ones -- zitrone (lemon) grapefruit (I can't remember what the German word for that one was) and one called waldmeister that is a light, sweet, herb one.  I can't describe it but it's really good.

Then last week we took our first trip to a Germany grocery called Nahkauf.  It's a mix of familiar and unfamiliar but the best thing was the selection of chocolate that we don't get in the states and the strangest thing (so far maybe) was that milk and eggs are not refrigerated.  And the milk comes in teeny-tiny cartons.  I don't know what's been done to it so that it doesn't have to be refrigerated and I've certainly been sticking mine in there anyway but I was a little wary of buying it at first!!

We've also found that there are bakeries everywhere and I have fallen in love with kaiser rolls.  Megan calls them sea star or sand dollar rolls because they have a swirly star cut into the top.  A girl in my ward says that she just considers the food as another souvenir because she'll be taking a few extra pounds home with her and I certainly will be falling into that category!!