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!!  

Nabburg -- Medieval Market in a Medieval City!

We have a senior couple here on a military relations mission that we ran into and met at the USO one day last week.  They invited us over for dinner on Saturday night and we showed up about 6 p.m. only to be told that they were going to take us on a mystery and so here's a peanut butter sandwich and some chips and let's get in the car!

Ok first of all, we did NOT ride in the mission car -- it's against the rules.  And it wouldn't fit us all anyway.  Another sister in the ward who has a van drove us in her car and we all went together. 

We drove on the Autobahn -- dang!!  Chopper and I have been learning the driving rules in preparation for testing for our licenses hopefully soon.  One big rule is that you DO NOT pass on the right and you DO NOT sit in the left lane on the Autobahn.  There really is no speed limit, REALLY, and we were passed A LOT by very fast driving cars so I totally see the point in the laws but it was kind've crazy!!

Anyway,  I just love looking out at the countryside anyway because it's hilly and forested and then there are villages everywhere peeking out of the trees and usually with either a church tower or rathaus tower rising above everything else.  But we came to a town called Nabburg that literally had the old town portion on a hill with the church at the top.  I should've taken a picture from the car but it was awesome to see as we drove up.  Turns out this is a medieval town that does a medieval market every two years for two days only and it was Saturday and Sunday!!  So we wandered this amazing town and there were cool booths selling awesome stuff, musicians, dancers, lots of people dressed in costume, and demonstrations of various crafts and occupations.  It was a little crazy keeping all the kids with us but we had a great time!!

Ok this is actually the road that we parked off of before walking up several flights of very steep stairs and then winding still upwards through the oldest part of the village.  I'm showing it because this is what German village roads are like: narrow and twisty!  And German drivers go fast!  There's been several roads that Chopper and I have been on and have asked if it's a one-way road.  Nope.  But good luck fitting two cars.  Side note -- yes there are a great number of mopeds, smart cars, Fiats, and other small cars, but I've seen plenty of regular size and larger cars.  Maybe not Suburbans or the really big trucks, but even my mini-van shouldn't pose a problem for the most part -- except in the villages and we've been told just to park outside the villages and walk in.

Ok all my pictures are filled with people -- it was really crowded!!  Next time we'll go during the day.  But the crowd was not rowdy or obnoxious and there were plenty of kids around.  And if that's a German drinking crowd -- it's 10 times better than an American one!

Working blacksmith -- fun to watch

One of the random entertainments -- I don't think there was a schedule or anything, there were just random performances and they were really good.  Although we missed the fire juggler :(

This house has 1939 at the very top -- I don't know if that's the age of the house or the decor but it was gorgeous!

Rathaus is town hall and they're always nearly as big as the churches and with a bell tower at the top as well.  Bells in every village everywhere!  I love it!

Since we were there at dusk, I've lightened up a lot of these pictures so that the details are clearer.  They're all from my cell phone so I hope that they will enlarge with good clarity!

This beauty says 1939 at the top - I don't know if that's the age of the building (doubtful, it's probably older) or the decoration.  So I know that it's been about 70 years from World War II and we haven't really been anywhere but we haven't really seen any evidence of war time destruction.  I don't know if that's because we're in a rural area or because Bavaria wasn't affected much -- I have so much to learn about local and country history!

Ok so seriously there were so many people walking around in medieval costume and it was awesome (and you know I was completely jealous!).  But the thing I noticed most?  It was believable and modest!  I don't really enjoy renaissance fairs in the states anymore because so often the women are exposing way more than I think is necessary and it's all about the sexy princess or wench or whatever.  But it just seemed like the costumes here were understated and realistic and we didn't see a lot of boob!  It was awesome!!  And it was old and young, male and female, elaborate and simple.  I think my favorite things were the flower crowns.  Sigh.  I'm such a costume fanatic!!

One stall was selling honey and beeswax candles and had brought this small case of bees to show.  The kids watched them for 5 minutes and we had to drag them away.  

Once you get up high there are alleyways that had INCREDIBLE views!  Pictures never do this kind of stuff justice but I just can't even imagine how glorious it would be to actually live there and wake up to this every morning.  Maybe people in general would be a little more laid back if they had this kind of view to soak in every day!

The Catholic church at the top of the hill -- Chopper said it was a cathedral and I guess I don't know the difference between a church and a cathedral but if it's measured in ornamentation, then yes, this is it.  The missionaries told us that there's another amazing one closer to us that I need to ask about again and write it down so I don't forget!!

The inside of the church was mainly lit with candles which Megan said was creepy but was actually really soft and beautiful!  But with the interior darkened and it still being light outside the stained glass windows were brilliantly beautiful.  There was a line to go up to the tower and we decided not to -- we probably should have!

And it's not just the windows!  The arches!  The stonework!

The statues?  The church in Grafenwoehr has a crucifix on the outside that the girls think is pretty gross.  They're really not used to seeing portrayals of Christ with the blood and piercings.  This one had some statues that weren't too bad in that respect but these individuals are apparently all saints.  Elder Johnson thought the middle was Saint Sebastian and the left end was Saint George.

The ceiling!!

The next day was Sunday of course and we went to church down the street.  Abby wanted to know why we weren't going to "that church we went to yesterday".  I think for the first time every I explained to the girls that not everyone who goes to church has the same beliefs as we do.  Of course they have friends who are different religions or not at all, but they're all been generally Christian and we haven't been to tour any of their churches!!  It's only been a week and already their worldview is expanding and I love it!!

This is part of the original wall and I think dates back to the 1500s.  And when we went up the stairs and stood on the wall this is the view we got:

Yeah.  Amazing.

One of the stalls was selling more of the "dark" side so to speak -- Harry Potter, dark arts kind of stuff.  The kids thought this dragon skull was cool.

A tower in the village with a stork nest at the top!

This would be an incredible city to see even without the medieval market.  And they have a Christmas market so we may be going back!!  The surprising thing about it was that it was cheap!  I always associate fairs and festivals with spending an arm and a leg but entry was only 4 euro for adults, kids free, and they kids all got gelato and giant pretzels (which they LOVE -- ok I do too) for a euro each.  Actually, I feel like food here is either about the same as America or cheaper.  We have a bakery and a gelato shop on the same street right around the corner from where we're living right now and they are both delicious and both inexpensive.  Our entire family gets single scoop cones of gelato for less than 5 euro.  And they change their flavors and have some I've never heard of before we we've liked every one that we've tried.  Although I think right now the zitrone (lemon) is my favorite.  

Also, the language.  I feel it necessary to learn what we can and to try to speak Germany but I am admittedly woefully inept and Chopper isn't any better.  Yes, so many people speak English and I am so grateful and impressed!  It makes my life easier certainly but I often wonder if they are laughing at me later or if they appreciate the effort.  I guess it doesn't really matter but we are trying!