Flössenburg town and concentration camp memorial

After visiting Parkstein yesterday and seeing their castle ruins I really wanted to see more. Since today was my morning off with Liam in daycare I decided to visit Flössenburg, a small town about 45 minutes from Graf on the Czech border.

The castle there was a stronghold of the House of Hohenstaufen, "a dynasty of German monarchs in the High Middle Ages, reigning from 1138 to 1254." (Or so says Wikipedia) It was destroyed, reportedly, in the Thirty Years' War and was never rebuilt. It's one of the most notable castle ruins in the Upper Palatinate. Considering the windy European and tree-lined roads I had a hard time getting a good picture of it from below but from what I've seen of other people's pictures it's pretty impressive up close. It lords over the entire town and is visible from almost anywhere down below.

Yesterday I was reading up on the town and learning more about the concentration camp that used to be there. I first learned about it from my sister (here's your shoutout Megan!) who has been reading a book about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was a part of one of the plots to kill Hitler. He was executed at the camp there. Upon realizing that this place was so close to us I decided to go, especially with the castle to see there too. And I figured the timing was right. Without Liam to chase around I could actually take my time looking around the area. Will and I have planned on going to a camp too but wanted to explore Germany on our own first, to get a sense of where it is we're living now. And I feel like one works oneself up to visiting a place like that. Americans really know very little about Germany considering how places like France and Italy nearby are such popular American tourist destinations. Our views of Germany seem to be of beer... and WWII. Both accurate but a little restrictive as there is so much more to this country that we've overlooked.

 Initially arriving I decided to go to the camp first. I didn't think I was going to be at the camp long so I figured I'd see the castle afterwards. To make a long story short I changed my mind a couple times. Upon arriving at the camp I didn't feel I was quite ready to bring myself to go so I backtracked and went in search of the castle instead. I ended up parking further away from it than I had realized, but finding how beautiful the town was I just decided to walk around a bit.

I love these houses, especially how there are flowers spilling out of almost every window. Germans definitely love their gardening. This was one of the churches in town. I loved the ivy climbing down the wall onto the stairs.

These towns built into hills remind me of a lot of what we saw on our trip down to the Alps in June. It was very pretty, even on a dreary day like today. And it's in a fairly remote location in the sense that there are no big cities nearby. Here and there people stood outside talking to their neighbors, sweeping off their porches. I felt like the only tourist in the whole town, or American to say the least.

I took this picture without realizing the houses up on the hill are the original houses that many of the higher-ranking SS officers lived in and are they are still occupied today. (The area where the camp is is just off to the left of this picture.)

/

 

I have yet to figure out what these doors built into the mountain are for. I noticed some of these at Parkstein yesterday so I'm not sure if it has some correlation with a castle being there or not. 

 A hobbit hole perhaps?

Realizing it was gonna take more time than expected to get to the castle I decided to go back to the camp, since I was working with a short time frame.

Before I go on however I wanted to forewarn those reading that the following pictures are of the concentration camp. I realize it's not something everyone wants to look at, so I felt a fair warning was needed. I was conflicted about taking pictures at first but once there I felt moved to, so I did. Not of everything, of course. But I feel that I tried to accomplish this in a respectful way. (At least as much as one can with an IPhone. I didn't feel carrying my larger camera was appropriate.) So, with that being said...

The camp was started in May 1938 and was originally intended for criminals, "asocial" people and Jews. Over time political prisoners and POWs were added. The first building you encounter is the SS Headquarters. It stands about 100 meters in front of what used to be the camp gate, the place that separated the SS part of the camp from the prisoners'.

Where the metal poles are is where the gate used to be. The two stone posts (one bearing a sign that read "Arbeit macht frei," ("Work makes you free") were removed to the memorial at the back of the camp.) These are the two of the main buildings left standing. The one on the right was the "laundry facility" with the prisoners' "washroom" in the basement. The building on the left was the camp kitchen. Both buildings now house exhibits. The open space between the buildings was the roll call grounds where roll call was taken twice a day. When the camp first opened in 1938 there were 400 prisoners. By the time the camp was liberated on April 23, 1945 they numbered over 15,500. (Only about 1,500 remained behind at the camp and were present for the actual liberation. The remaining 14,000 had left on a "death march" towards Dachau three days prior.)

The chapel was built with the stones of the demolished guard towers. Adjoining the chapel is one of the three remaining towers.

Inside the chapel, plaques along the wall commemorate the number of prisoners from each country represented at the camp. The two Americans were unknown airmen.

Bust of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the chapel. He was executed 14 days before the camp was liberated.

View from inside the chapel.

Another of the remaining guard towers.

And the above tower up close...

Behind and below the backside of the main part of the camp is the crematorium shown at the bottom of the hill in this picture. The fence posts on the right side of the stairs are the original barbed wire fence posts. The two stone posts midway down the hill just above the crematorium are the original gate posts previously mentioned. They were relocated to serve as part of the memorial that lies just to the left of this picture.

The "Valley of Death," the oldest Holocaust memorial in Bavaria. Shown is the Square of Nations, Pyramid of Ashes, where an estimated 5,000 people remain, a mass execution site and the crematorium in the background.

Plaques placed by survivors of the camp honoring the U.S. Army units directly involved in the liberation.

And part of the Square of Nations

I usually have quite a bit to say on the subject of how I feel but this isn't one of those times. And besides, I think the pictures speak for themselves. Maybe that's why I was so drawn to take pictures of some of what was there. They will show things I don't have the language to express.

In short, I'm into history. And not everyone is. That's okay. I've truly started to acknowledge that I am blessed to be living in a place with a very deep and rich history. One with it's own, often very different, perspective on all those lessons I learned in school. But I would definitely recommend visiting a camp to any American who has the means and the opportunity. It's easy to shy away from it because it's an uncomfortable experience. But it is an experience you will never be able to compare to anything else in your life. It is both humbling and overwhelming. And in this way, through our simple acknowledgement, we give a voice to the voiceless.

Hellllllooooo July!

Sorry it's been so long, everybody. The fam went on an AMAZING vacation to Edelweiss Resort and Lodge back in early June and since we got back I've been busy with all the upcoming changes. Now that things are finally in motion and it's not just some abstract date in the hazy future I want to keep everyone as updated as possible (while observing OPSEC, of course). Here's a link to a Flickr album posting on Facebook of 2nd CAV's Casing of the Colors ceremony held here last week.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragoon2scr/sets/72157634336594765/

Casing the colors is a military tradition that entails encasing the unit's flag and their banners signaling the unit's movement. When the unit arrives at their new location, be it downrange or elsewhere, the Colors are "uncased" and displayed for as long as that unit maintains operations there. Will was glad to get out of it. They had to be there several hours before it was even supposed to start. That's the Army for you. 

In regards to other deployment-related news I will be sending out an e-mail with Will's new address to relevant people when mail can start being sent. I'm a lot more hesitant in giving out information this time around than I was last time. Living abroad is a great experience, but it has also made me realize how big of a target we are. We are in a foreign country, directly representing the American government at a time when that same government seems to be doing everything it can to make us even bigger targets. Between that and the recent terrorist attacks on individual soldiers in the European Union in the last several months and threats in Bayern as well, I'm staying extra vigilant. It seems you don't have to go too far to hear some horror story about someone's hacked Facebook page, suspicious people hanging around taking pictures, getting targeted while off post. There was actually an incident at Edelweiss two days after we left. That's too close of a call for me. I think I'm at the point where I don't even want to allude to the deployment on Facebook. Anyone who needs to know, will know from other means. So bear with me, I want to keep you all informed but I'll only be posting things that have already been put out on official channels. If you want to follow Will's unit their FB page is www.facebook.com/WarEagles

Hope everybody's start of the week got off to a decent start. Monday's almost over! Can't believe the 4th is almost here. We will, of course, be celebrating with brats (American ones thank you). With budget constraints Grafenwöhr is one of the few posts that is retaining it's fireworks show this year but I doubt we'll get to make it with it not starting till 10 or so. I'd like to go but I'm not sure Liam would be able to fall asleep outside. What is everyone doing this year to celebrate the 4th?

Isn't this the cutest little boy? Our little Liampants at Lake Eibsee on our vacation to the Bayarische Alpen!

It's vacation weather! Some great, and maybe less than great destinations nearby...

Warmer temps have finally returned to Bavaria! It's been up in the 70's the last couple days and we've really had some beautiful weather the last couple weeks. With the exception of tomorrow, another cold and rainy day, it's looking pretty nice next week too. Why do the crappy weather days always seem to fall on a Saturday?!
Regardless, Liam and I have been able to spend much more time outside and he just goes crazy over it. Hates to be brought back in. Awhile back we discovered a small play area back behind one of the houses across the street. It's a nice alternative instead of the playground just down the road which is jam-packed with hooligan children whenever it's warm out. So I like taking Liam back there sometimes, he's usually the only one. They have this woven rope swing that's about twice as big as this one and Liam LOVES it.

A couple days ago I took him out to the backyard and he had a blast. Since we're at the end of the building our "yard" is kinda the whole area around the end of our house so it's a pretty big area. Our place from the back:

 He just took off and I thought at any moment he was gonna stand up and start singing the theme from "The Sound of Music," twirling and all.

This past Monday I went to the ACS-sponsored "Welcome to Bavaria" class. It's sort of a cultural adaptation class. It was supposed to be 3 days, the first day in a classroom and the following two days going around the area learning where things are. I only ended up going to the first day. Between dropping off Liam at daycare that morning and having him bawl his eyes out when I was leaving him (the first time that's happened by the way) and picking him up late in the afternoon realizing he hadn't taken a nap, I didn't feel comfortable leaving him there all day for three days in a row. I was still glad I went. Very informative. It was taught by this German lady "Ursula"... how awesome of a name is that!?

 The biggest things I took away from that day I think was that A) my family is SOOO German. I mean, they joke about it a lot. I heard that a lot growing up. Blame all your negative yet hopefully endearing qualities on your German heritage. At least that's what I got out of it. But really! I think it's pretty accurate. Quirky, sarcastic, odd sense of humor, blunt, straightforward, very opinionated, big beer drinkers, having the appearance of being stern, if not just a bit cranky at times, very devoted to their Catholicism (well, at least Bavaria)... yep, it's all there. Awww... it's all making sense now.

B) Don't drive in the Czech Republic. Or Poland. Or Romania. Or any of the other Eastern Bloc countries. In fact, I've been wanting to go to Poland and the Czech Republic, which is about an hour east of us, but I'm not in such a hurry anymore. Let's be honest, I know very little about these countries, I think most Americans know about just as much too. But let me summarize how little I'm actually working with here: A) Pope JP II is from Krakow. That is in Poland. B) There's a place in Poland where some fantastic people have built a cathedral into a salt mine. Looks awesome. C) Polish pottery is from Poland. D) The Czech Republic used to be part of Czechoslovakia, a former favorite word of mine to say. For fun. The End.

So that's it. That's what I know. Also, just like most Americans, my idea of things I know nothing about comes from Hollywood. So I'm envisioning a very lite version of "Hostel."

But also something like "Everything is Illuminated" which I think was actually set in the Ukraine.

So yep, I got nothing. I knew in the past these places were known to not be the safest places on Earth. But shortly after we moved here I started hearing horror stories about people getting drugs slapped underneath their cars after crossing the border, policemen, or people dressed as policeman, pulling people over, finding out their addresses and after returning home after a couple days' vacation, finding their home cleaned out. Poland and the Czech Republic are within a drivable distance so a lot people go over there for shopping in particular. Prices over there are miniscule compared to Germany. But I don't think they're anymore safe now than they were when they were under communist rule.

So during this class Ursula's going into all this detail about these things she's heard about. The fake policeman thing actually happened to someone who took the class a couple months ago. Recently I was reading about people being targeted after crossing the border, having people flash their lights at them, tailgating and harassing them on the road to try to get them to pull over. Let's see, there was also an active-duty service member, who actually went to Poland with a group and was nearly kidnapped. I guess the trick was to not trust the nice, old Asian lady. Also I think something about not buying cigarettes over there got brought up. Cartons of cigs are the equivalent of $10 over there but people have died from whatever was in them.

All the horror stories aside, she recommended definitely going to Prague, it's such a beautiful city. How can you not when we're only a 3 hour drive from there? But you just have to be more careful than usual in those countries. So a word of caution to anyone throwing around the idea of traveling to the region, it's not gotten any safer than what you've previously heard. Just be aware of your surroundings, go in a group and always take the train instead of driving. Ranger that! No human trafficking in my future, thank you!

In brighter tourism news Will and I reserved a room at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch this week! We'll be going for a week during his block leave and I can't wait.

As you can see, it's just below the German Alps. It's run by the American Armed Forces Recreation Centers so it's geared towards service members. Rates are prorated by rank so I guess sometimes it does pay to be enlisted! It really makes it very affordable. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be able to afford it if this was run by Germans. They have spa services, day trips to Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Munich, the Eagle's Nest, and Zugspitze (Germany's highest peak) among other things. The awesome thing is that there's an Army post there too so daycare is available through their on post daycare centers as long as your child's already registered. Will and I would like to take at least one day trip. Neuschwanstein Castle isn't far from there but I've heard it's not very kid-friendly. There's a 45 minute hike uphill to get there and then the tour inside is long and the castle itself has lots of stairs and is not stroller friendly. I've just heard from most people that they don't recommend taking small children.

So this is the perfect time to go, we'll be in the area AND have daycare available. Oh my gosh, did I mention how difficult it is to find child care in Germany!? (Okay, that's a blog for another day.) But seriously, I'm willing at this point to shell out the big bucks so Will and I can go out and actually eat at a German restaurant alone! Do I have any takers? I'm so envious of those people who have the money to hire an au pair or someone like that who just goes along on trips with the family. Instant childcare! But that's some cold, hard cash I'm sure those people are dishing out.

Next up: my earnest, if not comical, attempts at impersonating an amazing, expert German gardener.

Spring things and new projects

Ever since we moved in I've noticed this bird hanging around outside quite a bit. I don't recall seeing any back in the States, so after a little research I found out they are Eurasian Magpies.

 Related to the crow, they are considered to be the most intelligent of birds and among the most intelligent of all animals. Up there with chimps and humans. Attracted to shiny objects, seen taking out smaller songbirds in mid-flight and when in groups, known for exhibiting "teasing behavior" towards cats... I'm liking this bird more and more. Seeing how much Liam loved sitting on the kitchen windowsill at my parent's house and watching the birds outside I'd like to get a few birdfeeders and a birdbath for outside our living room windows. Unlike in El Paso our living room windows actually have a view of trees with ACTUAL leaves and green grass outside! Now if I could only convince our neighbor to pick up their junk lying around outside, we'll actually have something to look at once spring really gets going. (Even with the dead grass outside the view is better than our previous one.)

And speaking of things to to look at outside. I'm planning on starting a garden on our front patio (or is it the back). It's on the north side of the house so it will get plenty of sun (once the sun decides to actually shine). I've searched the Internet for info on gardening in Germany. I'd like to find out what is commonly grown around here but can't seem to find anything in English. Guess this first year will be trial and error. I'm also wanting to try out this new corn that's designed for containers from Burpee. It's currently out of stock though. Of course nothing tastes like Sachse corn, but I gotta take what I can get!

And speaking of new projects, I'm working on a new theme for Liam's room. New country, new room.  Something jungle/wild animal related. Inspired by all the new goofy, animal noises Liam seems to acquire everyday, Will and I decided maybe we should put our little zoo animal in an environment where he could feel at home with his people. My first project involves a picture to wood transfer idea I found on Pinterest.

I got these prints from Shutterfly. Apparently the transferring only works with laser-jet prints. I'm still waiting on the wood panels and the other stuff to arrive in the mail but I can't wait to see how they turn out. Probably should've gotten enough stuff to do a test run, but we'll see how it goes. I'm not a painter by any means so this is my version of an attempt at this:

I'd never be able to do that and I'm sure it would be pricey to find on Etsy.


Since we didn't have any curtains or blinds to fit the window sizes here (or rather accommodate for the fact that almost all the windows have a radiator directly underneath them) I had to order new blinds. I got these for Liam's room. I thought the bamboo would look good with the theme...

Makes me think of the blinds that used to be in my parents living room growing up. Lol. When we were at Ikea last weekend Will these leaf canopies that they had above a bed. I already have something for over Liam's bed so I would probably use it over the glider. It was only 10 euro too! (About $13/14)

Gonna do this one too. It's actually from Martha Stewart. Lol, ME... doing Martha Stewart crafts. "It's a good thing."

And a new look for his name too:

Minus the animals at the bottom. I'm not so into the cutesy baby animal stuff. That's basically the only style available to buy. I'd rather do stuff myself. When we first had this theme idea I googled it and didn't like what they had tried out in their rooms. I hope it all comes together.

I'm crossing my fingers some of this stuff comes by next week. Just got news this afternoon that Will's back on again for going back to the States next week. I'll have to drive him to the Nuernberg airport early Saturday to make his flight. He'll be at Camp Bullis in San Antonio all next week and he won't be getting back till the following Monday. So much for those two upcoming 4 day weekends and our trip to Rothenburg this weekend. Ugh. But I suppose if Rothenburg's been around this long it can hold out a few weeks more. I'm gonna have to find a thing or two keep Liam and I busy!

Happy Easter!

Yesterday's blog had me up late last night so I decided to leave Easter for another post. I hope everyone had a great one! Like I wrote yesterday, we got back from Nuernberg with less than half an hour to change and head over to Mass. Good thing we hit a part of the Autobahn with no speed limit.

 Contrary to what I had thought before coming here, not all the autobahn have no speed limit. You really have to watch for signs because you go in and out of speed zones all the time. Even without a speed zone you'll see this:

It means the recommended speed is 130 kph or roughly 80 mph. On the way there we were going about 70 mph and people were just flying past us. Not everyone, but enough to make you want to adhere to the stay-in-the-right-lane-unless-you're-passing-rule. I didn't realize until taking the driver's class that American vehicles are designed to be driven slower than European ones. Hard to believe when you see all these tiny cars that look like junk to us. But I digress!

They weren't running Watchcare at church during Mass this weekend so we managed Liam ourselves this time. Lol. I wasn't looking forward to it but it turned out a lot better than he was during the Protestant services we'd been to. There were a lot more people at Mass, which meant a lot more kids (you know those Catholics), so he did pretty well just being distracted by the other kiddos around us. I only had to take him to the back towards Communion.

Rose Barracks Chapel

He didn't get a nap in the morning so he was ready to crash when we got home, even slept longer than usual. Between teething and being sick I don't know what's going on with him. During Mass I was trying to preoccupy him by tickling or something and he threw his head back with his mouth open letting me see his gums. This kid now has his cuspids and first molars on top. I wiggled my finger into his mouth later to see where he is on the bottom ones. At least one molar's starting to come through on the bottom but I'm not sure about the other side. This kid ALREADY has about 13 or 14 teeth. It's been rough the last couple of months because I knew he was teething but I didn't think he was getting so many all at once! I guess that's the way to do it, I'd rather get them all out and done with at once than dragging it out all year long. Once he gets these bottom first molars in I think there should be a break for awhile till later towards the end of the second year when he'll get the last ones.

So here was the Easter basket the Easter Bunny left for him yesterday. I just put a few snacks in the eggs, one Reese's peanut butter egg, some stickers (which he ended up just wanting to eat, his first crayons and sheets to color on and Bubble Ooodles from Gymboree. He loved Bubble Time when we used to take him to Gymboree in El Paso and we really haven't played with them since. First off, however, how adorable is he in this shirt and tie?!

He makes me think of Andy Bernhard from "The Office." Lol. He was the snappiest dresser at church I have to say!

He loved the bubbles.

(Btw, please ignore the mess in our living room. It's my last place left to organize from the room and has become a catchall for things without a home yet.)

We did a miniature egg hunt in the living room. We were having a few flurries so I didn't want to even bother taking him out when it wasn't even mildly warm. He even found a few eggs on his own.

I'll post the videos I took on the Shutterfly site. He even tried out the crayons on his own too. Pretty good for the first time attempting to color.

That evening I attempted a ham dinner. Oh, the story of the ham... A couple weeks ago I thought I was being clever by thinking ahead and realizing I should probably go ahead and buy a ham in case they ran out at the commissary. I was so proud of myself that I got it for 50% with a coupon too. But then I realized last week that it had a label stating "Best used by: 11 Dec 2012" Ick! I left the ham in the freezer for a few days deliberating whether to use it or not. It completely made me question anything refrigerated or frozen from the commissary. Mildly disgusted I went back seeing if I could find something fresher. No such luck. I even found a full rack of ribs that had a date of November of last year. Am I the only one who is grossed out by this!? I mean, yes it's frozen. But their meat appears to be imported from the States. My little brother, John, the expert and soon-to-be K-State graduate of all things Ag related assured me that the USDA does a very good job of regulating meat in the States. But then there's a grey area with how it gets shipped over here. I imagine it's supposed to stay frozen on the way over but does it really? And when was this meat actually frozen? I looked to my Good Housekeeping cookbook as the last source of recommendation and they state that frozen ham should be used within 2 months after the "fresh by" date. Oooo-kay. It might have been perfectly fine but I didn't want to bother with something that suspect.

On Thursday I looked into going to a butcher in Vilseck but ended up taking Will and Liam to Edeka, a German grocery store chain, after Will got off work. (My first German store shopping. Btw, it was adorable like everything else here.) Found my way to the frozen food area and searched for ham. No such luck. Found a package of what appeared to be wild boar meat. But no ham. Over to the deli counter where I had no idea what I was doing or how to ask for ham. I remembered earlier in the day reading that ham is "schinken" or some such craziness so I looked around trying to find something that looked like ham. Aha. I THINK that's ham. Over comes the older German lady asking what I would like. I remember being told that most younger Germans know pretty good English. If you come across someone older, you're probably out of luck.

I was out of luck.

So in my best pantomime I try saying, "I would like..." and pointing to what I wanted. What ensued was a lot of finger pointing and head nodding and shaking. Realizing people were looking at me like I was an idiot my mind suddenly blanked on how many pounds were in a kilo. So I threw out "zwei kilo" not thinking that's gonna be like 5 lbs. I think she was questioning me to make sure that I wanted that much. I told her yes initially and when she went back for more I sort of signed, "Okay, that's enough." Where is Dad with his infamous International Hand Signals when you need him? Will started laughing when she was finally wrapping it up. I looked so stupid, I had to laugh at myself too. I know I confused the lady but when I told her "sorry" she looked at me with this "I get it. Math is hard." look on her face but in a nice way. Man do I hate looking like a stupid American.

So this is what I ended up with. Went in looking for frozen ham. Came out with sliced deli meat.

It really had a great flavor though. I tried soaking it in a sort of apricot marinade/glaze but it was like eating sandwich meat without the sandwich. Oh well, we can't all be winners, right? Liam loved it though. He ate it to the exclusion of everything else. I also tried making lemon cupcakes from a recipe I found on Pinterest.

Not so great in fact. Turns out that self-rising flour thing is kinda a requirement when that's what the recipe calls for. The cream frosting turned out good but the actual cupcakes had almost no flavor and were as dense as pound cake. Lol. Awww, fun in the kitchen!

 So our first Easter dinner together didn't really manifest into what I had planned for it to be. But it was definitely an experience. The dinner really did seem to be doomed from the start but I know I'm gonna look back at my first Easter dinner attempt and laugh. A memorable Easter after all!

Maybe, just maybe, I should have gone with the wild boar meat...

'Oliday in Nuernberg

So I thought I might give this blog site a go and see how I like it. The Shutterfly site has been great. I just wish there was a way for me to write a blog on the page and add photos as I go. A lot of the pictures I upload have a story behind them but clicking back and forth between pages and referencing albums elsewhere on the site kinda ruins it. I'm very new to this and even though this site is supposed to be easy for beginners it's going to be a process to figure out how this all works. Please bear with me!

We are nearing the end of the first four day weekend Will has gotten since arriving here and it's been great. We finally made it to Nuernberg! With the little tyke in tow, who is very opinionated about when and exactly where he will take naps, we decided to get a hotel room for a couple nights and just take it slow. That way we'd be able to do what we wanted to on our own time and when Liam started getting cranky we could head back to the hotel for his nap. Definitely a more expensive way to travel but I think it makes for a happier baby, which makes for a happier Mommy and Daddy.

We stayed at a very nice 4-star hotel near the Old Town. Just across the street was the main Deutsche Bahnhof (train station). We just had to walk underneath the train tracks, cross another street and we were there. It still very much feels like winter here. Unfortunately it wasn't too warm to be walking around, it stayed in the high 30s/ low 40s. But being so close worked to our advantage, we didn't need to stay out for very long, especially with Liam still trying to get over his latest cold.

On Friday we waited for Liam to take his nap before we left for Nuernberg. Once we got there and checked in it was already late afternoon so we just went out walking for a bit. Not wanting to lug the big stroller around we only brought the cheap Wal-Mart umbrella stroller with us. We weren't sure how it would hold up to the cobblestone streets so we tried out the back feature of the Infantino carrier. It was the first time we tried sticking Liam in it that way. Needless to say, with coat and all he did look a bit smashed but seemed to tolerate it pretty well.

I'm sure he probably got some strange looks. I'm not sure the Germans use those with their kids. And I have to admit, it was pretty funny seeing him smashed up against Will, legs dangling and flopping around. He kept hanging his head backwards looking up at the sky like all of his neck muscles had just gotten tired. People would kind of smile at him as they walked past and I just felt like, "Yep, that's half my DNA everybody."

He did pretty well like that considering I don't think he felt very well.

This tower is connected to the old city wall that encircles the original Old Town. Just on the other side of this tower is the Craftsmen's Courtyard which is like a miniature village where small Mom & Pop shops sell everything from homemade steins and glasswork to dolls. It was really adorable. It was like suddenly walking into a quaint medieval village. All of the charm, just none of the Black Death.

This is the main feature of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in the main square. It is a mechanical clock installed in the 1500s and features the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV at the center. At noon seven prince-electors parade around the Emperor, paying him homage. It was constructed as an Imperial court church and was the location of baptisms for heirs to the throne and first held the Imperial Crown Jewels in 1361. It was given to the Nuernberg Catholic congregation in the 1800s.

Off in the distance was the Kaiserburg, which we didn't make it to. A lot of the rooms are closed for renovations right now so I figured we'd better get our money's worth by visiting sometime this summer. I'm sure there will be plenty more visits in the future. The Kaiserburg, or Imperial Castle, is the symbol of Nuernberg. Between 1050 and 1571 all Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire lived here at some point. It's considered by many to be one of the most important Imperial castles of the Middle Ages.

That evening we ate at the hotel's restaurant. Oh, the restaurant... Have you ever tried taking a very young toddler to a nice restaurant? Yeah. It pretty much turned out about how you'd expect.

Thankfully we ate early so we were the only ones there until the end of our meal. I was fairly embarrassed by Liam flipping drink cups around, chirping in a high-pitched zoo animal voice and at myself for being dressed like a bum who'd come straight from Wal-Mart.  I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't have even attempted to take a toddler Liam's age into a place like that but you know what? I think I'm finding it's o-KAY to look like a stupid American with no etiquette sometimes. If it was just Will and I, I would never have gone there in my Old Navy t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. But somewhere between learning that, as a mom, sometimes you just gotta take what you can get, go with the flow and truly deciding that it's fine if things don't turn out how you'd prefer... I'm starting to see that I'm being taught a lesson here. Did the waitress think we were a bunch of hooligans? Probably. Did Liam make a mess on the nice tablecloth? Yes. Did I eventually just have to take him out of the restaurant when he finally flipped his lid and had a meltdown? Yes. But was it one of the best meals I've had in I can't remember when? Absolutely. In retrospect, I tend to get pretty anxious in those situations. We didn't really know where else to eat. It was further complicated by the fact that this was Good Friday, when almost everything is closed in Germany. In retrospect, I wish I would have stopped  worrying about how we looked to other people. Yes, I dress like a hobo sometimes (for German standards) and yes I have a child whose nickname is "Piggy" for obvious reasons. I see variations of that supper happening over and over again in the future, here at home and throughout our travels around Europe. But it's only through letting go I'll be able to truly enjoy all the potential this opportunity of living in Europe holds for us.

For the record it was an AMAZING meal!

The Pig-Monster was racked out in his Pack 'n' Play in no time.

What an adorable monkey we have. :) Saturday we pretty much walked around Old Town again. The Osternmarkt (Easter Market) was open Saturday so we looked around at the stalls. We bought some tasty gingerbread cookies, some fresh strawberries and went in a store or two. (One of them being H&M Megan!)

Not sure what this guy was all about but I have to say I was a little creeped out.

Yummy, fresh produce! I wish THIS was where the commissary got their produce from. Daddy and Liam also got to fit in some play time back at the hotel before heading off to Ikea.

I L-O-V-E this photo. Classic. This sums up their relationship so much more than words ever could. Lol!
We let Liam blow off a little steam in the hotel room before we set off for Ikea late afternoon in search of our highly researched and sought after Billy bookcase and desk. Our bookcase from El Paso was a piece of crap which didn't survive the intercontinental move and neither did our desk.

Silly me. Will and I are Ikea virgins and no one warned me about this supposed modernly efficient home decor store hiding behind the facade of the giant blue and yellow box that is it's exterior. 

When I look at the outside I see sleek, Swedish order. I imagine aisles of modern furniture and reasonably-priced accessories. I see Liam sitting in a cart well-mannered and patient while we make our selections and glide seamlessly through the check-out and out the swishing electric doors. I see ourselves driving home later with our new Swedish furniture, proud of ourselves for mastering a store run by people whose language we know the barest of basics of. Ha!

If you've ever been to one hopefully you have some semblance of what I'm alluding to. This all went out the window seconds after walking in. To the right appeared to be a giant cage that held small people of the "6 & up" variety... running rampart, throwing themselves around on slides and toys and generally being extremely chaotic. Everyone who wished to continue shopping immediately ascended onto an escalator that took everyone up to a second or third floor. Having Liam in a stroller we had to find an elevator. Once we got to the top floor we had no idea where to find office furniture so we just sort of threw ourselves into the maze. Walkways wound throughout the floor in a one-way street kind of fashion winding around model rooms set up throughout. Probably the worst day ever to go since it was a Saturday but it was our only option. Somewhere around the third model room we stopped at Liam decided to have his meltdown and I thought we were gonna have to leave the store immediately. Thankfully he managed to hold on. I didn't realize at the time but it turns out you have to walk through the entire store to get out. Had I known at the time I think I would have freaked out with all the people and feeling like a cow led to the slaughter. It took us the better part of a half-hour and watching what other people were doing to realize that you were supposed to pick up sheets near the products you wanted and then write down the pertinent information onto a separate piece of paper. Eventually you enter a "self-serve warehouse" where you pick up your own items and then wait in line to check out. Aha!

We realized shortly that this really wasn't something we should have left for late afternoon. It appears Ikea requires the dedication of an entire day to get through all the steps if you're going in starting from scratch. No wonder they have a restaurant there. Which, btw, was especially touting their meatballs on a big poster outside the restaurant. (Didn't they just get in trouble for serving horse meat in their meatballs in the Czech Republic. Just a half hour east of here mind you.) In retrospect, I don't feel so bad as I think it would have initially been almost as confusing had everything been in my own language. Throwing that barrier in, it just wasn't something we were able to accomplish in that short a period of time with a little Pig Monster that detests shopping to his male core. Realizing we had been bested for the moment we retreated as quickly as possible for more reconnaissance. We shall return with full reinforcements and you shan't conquer us o, Swedish-German store. We will have the last laugh!

The craziness of Ikea did get the best of Liam, however.

The little guy that fights sleeping anywhere but his crib and Pack 'n' Play finally lost the battle with the sleep monster on the way back to the hotel. Poor little man. He did really well though and it had been a long day. We all needed to relax.

The next morning we headed back home and made it just in time for Mass. Pretty good considering we had to drive an hour and we lost another one in the night as Europe finally jumped on board with the U.S. with daylight savings time. More on Easter in another post!

We all had a great time. It was great to get away for a few days and just have a change of scenery and for Will to get away from work for awhile. All and all I would call our first trip in Europe a success! Next up, maybe at the end of April.... Regensburg?