I altered the original to use things that I had on hand. The original also used three quarters, but I thought two $1 bills would be less weight to mail and more fun to spend! Turns out I was right. Patrick was able to purchase a Batman notebook and some gum.

It can be difficult to make cards for boys, but I think this idea is a keeper for both boys and girls. I can’t wait for my other nieces & nephew to turn four!

As our time in Germany is quickly dwindling, my goal is to capture more everyday moments. Today was a crazy weather day in Hohenfels! At times we had rain, light snow, heavy snow, ice pellets, and sun. When I went to the gym it was sunny without a trace of snow on the ground. When I left 40 minutes later, about an inch had accumulated. I have a feeling it won’t stick around very long, but it left a beautiful dusting on everything tonight. This was the view from my living room when I got home.

January

The year got off to a rather bad start when our townhouse neighbor turned off her heat before leaving town and her pipes froze. We spent most of the first few weeks of the year dealing with fans, dehumidifiers, and the general mess that the water left behind. Thankfully, nothing of ours was damaged.

I started my second year at the Hohenfels Tax Center on January 10^th. Two days later, Brandon deployed to Afghanistan. He was in Kabul for five months as the Liaison Officer for the Joint Multinational Training Center.

I also finished the coursework for my Masters in Accountancy at Stetson University. After a year of intense online classes, it feels great to be done with papers and group projects!

February & March

While Brandon was gone, I stayed busy preparing tax returns, fulfilling my Treasurer duties for the Hohenfels Community and Spouses’ Club (HCSC), providing services as the Catholic Musician, and spending time with friends.

Meanwhile, Brandon found life downrange quite boring. He spent lots of time researching the new Home Theater PC that he would assemble when he got home!

April

With the warmer weather, life definitely started getting busier! My parents came to visit for about 10 days right before Easter and we traveled to Heidelberg and Colmar, France.

May

Brandon came home from Afghanistan in May! To celebrate, we traveled to Marostica & Nove, Pisa & Lucca, and the Cinque Terre in Italy. This trip was one of the best we’ve taken. We loved the scenery, the people, and the delicious food & wine!

June

After our trip to Italy, Brandon started his new job as the Executive Officer (XO) for the Badger Team, the Counter-IED training team. Taking this job kept him out of the Plans shop!

I also started something new, playing clarinet with the Symphonisches Blasorchester der Stadt Regensburg. In English, that would be the Regensburg Community Band!

July

July turned out to be another super busy month! We had planned to travel to Hallstatt, Austria, over the July 4^th weekend; however, we learned that my Grandma Lamb passed away on July 1^st. We quickly made plans to fly back to Iowa for the funeral. While the reason for flying home was to mourn, we were celebrating the birth of our newest niece at the end of the trip. Emma Renee Fasse was born on July 8^th and we were able to meet her before we had to catch our flight back to Germany.

We couldn’t spend any more time in Iowa because we had visitors coming! Brandon’s sister & brother-in-law, Gillian & Ryan, their one-year-old daughter, Elena, and Brandon’s mom, Linda, arrived in Munich two days after we did. They were with us for two weeks and we showed them a lot of Bavaria! In addition to the Hohenfels area, we visited Neuschwanstein, Regensburg, Munich and the BMW factory, Bamberg, Rothenberg, and Kelheim. Along the way, we also got to spend several days with Ryan’s college roommate, Dan, and his fiancée, Ines.

August

Since the spring, I had planned to go back to Iowa in August for Emma’s baptism and Hannah’s 4^th birthday. I enjoyed being home for happy reasons this time. It was also fun for this former 4-H’er to attend the Iowa State Fair again! I was also there for Hannah’s first day of 4-year-old preschool.

September

Over Labor Day Weekend, we took our postponed trip to Hallstatt, Austria. We had a wonderful, relaxing weekend in a gorgeous setting!

Brandon started traveling more for work doing site surveys and observing international trainings. In September, he traveled to Slovakia and Macedonia.

The end of the month was also busy as I volunteered countless hours at the HCSC Community Bazaar as the Silent Auction/Raffle Co-Chair. My beautiful custom-ordered dining room table also arrived the same weekend. Then, September 30^th was my last day at the Tax Center for the season.

October

Brandon traveled to Spain at the beginning of the month to observe some training and I was able to join him in Madrid for Columbus Day Weekend. We had great weather and took the opportunity to attend a bullfight…it was definitely an experience!

November

It seems that the end of the year is always our busiest travel months! At the beginning of November, Brandon went to Latvia for work. Then he had to attend a conference in Brussels, Belgium. Since I wasn’t working, I took the opportunity to go with him and enjoyed four days exploring the city with another spouse that had also accompanied her husband to the conference. We came home with a car full of beer and chocolate!

At the end of the month we were in Budapest, Hungary. We were pleasantly surprised to find a restaurant serving a traditional turkey dinner on Thanksgiving; although it still wasn’t the same as a home-cooked meal! We also enjoyed the thermal baths and the start of the Christmas market season while we were there.

December

And finally we made it to December! My parents came to visit us for another two weeks in order to experience the Christmas Markets themselves. We visited more than 14 markets in Amberg, Nürnberg, Regensburg, Munich, Rothenberg, and Dresden. We became quite the glühwein experts!

Now we are preparing for our last two trips of the year. We are going to Mallorca for some sun before Christmas and we’ll be learning how to ski in Garmisch-Partenkirchen between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Be sure to check back to read about those adventures!

Thank you so much for reading my blog throughout the year! The New Year will surely bring us new experiences as we move to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy 2012!!

Our 2011 Year-in-Review will be posted soon!! It’s been an eventful year, so look for the executive summary (aka the Christmas Letter) within the next few days.

While we were in Madrid, we took the opportunity to attend a bullfight at the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas. This was certainly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

The bullfight started at 5:30pm, and we were told to be there at least 20 minutes prior. Of course, I thought we should be there 40 minutes prior just to be safe! This gave us plenty of time to buy overpriced nuts and sodas outside the arena. Being used to American stadiums, we assumed incorrectly that we would have to buy concessions inside. So, if you ever attend a bullfight in Madrid, feel free to bring your own food & drink! We also had plenty of time to find our seats. October is the end of bullfighting season, so the crowd was rather slim. We were one of the first in the stadium, so Brandon immediately went to find a beer.

The “seats” were simply an area marked on a concrete ledge. There was an eccentric old man trying to rent cushions to sit on, but we decided to tough it out. After all, if we can sit through a whole Nebraska football game without cushions, we figured we could make it through a 2-hour bullfight.

I found a thorough explanation of a Madrid bullfight at Madrid Guide Spain, so we had a vague idea of what to expect. I’ll share that explanation with you and add my personal comments & pictures:

A Madrid bullfight consists of six bulls and three matadors with each matador being accompanied by two assistants. In a little over two hours the matadors will each kill two bulls or “toros” as they are known in Spain.

To start the spectacle the matadors and their assistants will enter the bullring and parade in front of the crowd in order of stature. The 1^st matador will be he of the longest time served as a matador unless it is the 1^st time in Madrid for one of the matadors in which instance he will lead.

The matadors and their assistants will go to their respective areas behind the Madrid bullring safety boards and await the 1^st bull. Prior to the bull being released the equivalent of the master of ceremonies will announce the bull via a hand carried billboard giving details of the farmer, origin and weight. {All the bulls we saw were from the farm of C. Camacho and ranged in weight from 466kg to 535kg.} With the pomp and ceremony over, the bull is released!

Initially, the two assistants will enter the bullring and goad the bull into making a number of passes. This is done to determine the health and aggression of the bull whilst the matador watches on. Sometimes the bull will not respond and the crowd will start to whistle. If this happens, the bull will be returned and a replacement brought out. {No replacements were necessary the night we were there.}

Having secured a suitable bull, the band located in the upper reaches of the plaza will play a quick melody signifying the entrance of the two horses and their riders. The purpose of the riders is to maneuver themselves so that they can make short cuts with their lances into the shoulder area of the bull. This serves to agitate the bull and to start the blood flowing out of the animal. A further melody signifies when the appropriate time has passed.

With the now enraged bull, the assistants return to the bullring carrying short barbed staffs called banderillas. The assistants will attempt to have the bull charge them and at the last minute, going over the horns, plant the barbs into the bull’s shoulders. A good assistant will plant the barbs firmly and accurately and the crowd will applaud this. Again a short melody signifies the end of this process. {The assistants we saw didn’t seem to be very good at this task. In fact, one of the matadors did this himself!}

Now it is the turn of the matador, which translated literally means “killer.” Using his cape, the matador will have the bull charge him. The objective being that when the bull does so, the matador maintains a rigid pose and guides the bull around his body. Skilled matadors will do so in a way that the cape does not leave the ground.

As the bull tires, both through blood loss and exertion, the band plays up again and the matador goes to his assistant for the killing sword. On a particular charge this will be driven over the horns, through the shoulder blades and directly into the animal’s aorta, killing it dead. This however doesn’t always happen and it may be necessary for the assistants to finish the stricken bull with a sharp needle like dagger between the eyes.

Following the killing of the bull, the crowd reacts depending on how they judge the spectacle. A great deal of cheering could see the successful matador being awarded one of three prizes: an ear, two ears, or the ultimate of two ears and the tail. {We didn’t see any prizes awarded! I guess these matadors weren’t very good!}

Following the removal of the animal’s carcass, to be butchered and sold to high class restaurants, the next fight will be announced! The spectacle will continue until each matador (or in the event of injury, his substitute) has killed the allocated two bulls. Should one matador have achieved four ears, he will be hoisted above the other two and leave through the puerta grande, “great door.” So ends the typical Madrid bullfight experience in the plaza de toros! {Again, none of the matadors were awarded anything that we saw, so no one left through the puerta grande. Of course, we also high-tailed it out of the arena, so we might have missed something!}

So, that is how a bullfight generally works. I was rather horrified throughout most of it, but there were some entertaining moments. The last bull tried really hard to “win” the fight. First, he jumped out of the arena while he was being goaded on by the assistants.

Then, he attacked the horse so violently that the poor horse fell over! Thankfully, the horse wasn’t hurt due to all the protective padding, but that same padding made it very difficult for it to stand back up. It took four men to help it up! The worst part was that the rider got back on the poor horse and went after the bull again. (I read somewhere that the horses didn’t always wear the protective padding and so often more horses were killed than bulls!)

If you want to see what a bullfight looks like instead of just reading about it, you can watch the official highlights here. You can also see my unofficial videos on YouTube.

You can read about the rest of our trip to Madrid here and see all of our pictures on our Shutterfly Share Site.

On 1 OCT, I drove Brandon to the Munich airport for an early morning departure to Madrid, Spain. Actually, he was headed to San Gregorio to observe some Spanish counter-IED training for the week. Normally, I really don’t know what Brandon does on these “business” trips, but this time the Armed Forces Network (AFN) has helped me out by interviewing Brandon and producing a news story! Obviously, the guy speaking English without a Spanish accent is NOT SFC Javier Rivas of the Spanish Army, but none other than MAJ Brandon Cave of the U.S. Army. Brandon was also quick to point out that he is now with the Joint Multinational TRAINING Center (JMTC), not the Joint Multinational READINESS Center (JMRC) anymore. Of course, he never even wanted this interview to air, so now he’s even more pleased that I’m sharing it. (Thanks for telling me you saw Brandon on TV, Deb!!)

Since Brandon was already in Spain and we haven’t spent much time exploring that country, we decided that I should join him in Madrid for the long Columbus Day Weekend. I flew in the evening of Friday, October 7^th and Brandon met me at the airport. We are pros at public transportation now, so we easily purchased our 10-ride metro tickets and made our way to the hotel located in the city center off Puerta del Sol. We stayed at Hotel Europa based on recommendations from Rick Steves and TripAdvisor. As we had requested, we had a room with a balcony and a great view of Puerta del Sol. Even though the plaza is extremely busy almost all hours of the day, the double-paned windows kept out the majority of the noise so we could sleep.

That first evening we visited the Tourist Information to reserve spots on the walking tour the next day and plan our attack to see the city over the next several days. We ate dinner at Meson Cinco Jotas in Plaza Mayor. We chose to sit outside, but the wind really picked up after we sat down. It was so bad that umbrellas and lighting were blowing over and even Brandon was cold! We toughed it out though and I enjoyed my tapas menu all the way to the chocolate dessert!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

We woke up to a beautiful, sunny day that was perfect for seeing Madrid! The Discover Madrid guided walk began at noon from Plaza Mayor. We made our way from there to the Royal Palace, learning about Madrid as we went.

After the walking tour, we found some lunch at Plaza Santa Ana before visiting the Prado.

The Prado is HUGE and a bit overwhelming with more than 3,000 canvases. We decided to follow the Self-Guided Tour in Rick Steves’ guidebook and rented an audioguide to share. We maybe should have taken a guided tour because a lot of the paintings had been moved since the guidebook had been printed. We ended up zigzagging throughout the museum to find the most significant paintings. I think we saw Velázquez’s Las Meninas about six times as we walked back and forth! It was definitely necessary to stop at the museum café for a beer when we were done.

Since Brandon had already spent several hours looking at art that he didn’t appreciate, he decided that we should also get the modern art museum out of the way. Brandon really hates modern art. I have a greater appreciation for it and thought that it would be a shame to not stop at the Reina Sofía, especially since it’s free on Saturdays after 14:30! The major work at this museum is Picasso’s Guernica, which shows the horror of modern war. We made a beeline for that painting and then headed out; although I did make Brandon walk by some of the Dalí works before we left.

We ate dinner at Casa Paco. The walls of the restaurant are covered with autographed photos of celebrities that have eaten there. We sat beneath a picture of Tom Cruise! The restaurant’s signature dish is ox grilled over a coal fire served on a sizzling hot plate. It was delicious and the service was fast, which was appreciated since we didn’t even sit down until after 21:00. The Spanish like to eat late. Most restaurants don’t even start serving dinner until 20:00. That’s pretty late for us Midwest-raised folk that are used to eating between 18:00-19:00! Needless to say, after dinner, we just made our way back to the hotel to call it a night.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

We woke up to another sunny day in Madrid. Sadly, most hotels in Madrid don’t offer breakfast so we had to find our own. The first morning we ate at the hotel’s restaurant, but this day we tried eating at La Mallorquina, a confitería on Puerta del Sol. We both had Napolitana pastries and we stood by the bar like locals to eat them and drink our coffee/tea. While it wasn’t the most relaxing breakfast, it was delicious and we went back the next day!

It was good that we had a quick breakfast because we had another museum to visit, the Thyssen-Bornemisza. This museum was much more interesting for Brandon because it actually had some Impressionist works and several works by Van Gogh. It was also easier to navigate because you started on the top floor and just worked your way down, visiting the rooms in numerical order. We spent several hours there and probably could have spent several more if we had had the time!

After the museum, we walked to Retiro Park to try to find some lunch. We didn’t see any sit-down cafes, but there were a couple self-serve places where we were able to get a sandwich. The park was a great place to be on this beautiful day!

We had to watch our time at the park because we didn’t want to be late for our evening activity…a Bullfight! I had some reservations about attending this event, but I figured it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Now I can say I’ve been to a bullfight, and that I don’t ever need to see another one! I think the bullfight deserves its own post (and this one is already pretty long!), so look for that in the next couple of days.

After the bullfight, we went to Casa Ciriaco for dinner. I had partridge and it was interesting, but not the best meal I ate in Madrid. We didn’t even finish our bottle of wine. We ended up having them cork the bottle so we could bring it back to the hotel with us. After a very long day, we were ready to turn in for the night!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Again, we had great weather for our last full day in Madrid and we visited the last major sight, the royal palace (Palacio Real). Rick Steves describes this palace as Europe’s third-greatest, after Versailles and Vienna’s Schönbrunn. Brandon and I have visited both of these, so we figured we better see this one, too!

There was quite a line just to get tickets, and when we got to the front of the line, we discovered that the next English guided tour was going to start in 3 minutes. We ended up purchasing the guided tour and after I questioned the ticket seller several times about whether we really had enough time to make it, he called ahead and told the tour guide to wait for us. We made our way through security and did manage to meet up with the guide at the palace entrance. I am really glad we decided to go with the tour because there were 5-6 rooms added to the end that were only available with a guide.

The grandson of Louis XIV and born in Versailles, King Philip V commissioned this Royal Palace in the 18^th century. The palace has about 3,000 rooms, but only about 25 rooms on one floor are open to the public. (We saw about 30 rooms with the extra ones on the guided tour.) Today, the royal family lives in a mansion a few miles away, but they still use the palace for official functions.

While the palace was impressive, I must admit that it was just another palace! There were a lot of clocks in this palace and the chandeliers were also notable. There was also a Stradivarius Room where the only matching quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello) made by Antionius Stradivarius are displayed.

We walked through the Armory before leaving the palace and ate lunch at Rick’s recommended spot, Café de Oriente. We had some great people-watching while we ate right at Plaza de Oriente near the palace.

With all the major sightseeing done, we leisurely explored some more of Madrid after lunch. We went in the Cathedral of Almudena (built 1883-1993). It was strange being inside such a new cathedral! The interior is Neo-Gothic and the 15^th-century painted altarpiece is a bit unexpected in the modern interior.

We stopped for an afternoon drink outside the Mercado de San Miguel and then walked through to admire the various food vendors.

We actually were just killing time until we could buy cookies from the nuns! Brandon’s mom wanted us to buy these cookies from cloistered nuns when we were in Barcelona, but we never found what she was talking about. We were successful in Madrid, but it was quite the process! First we had to buzz the button on the wall and wait for the sister to respond over the intercom. She said something quickly in Spanish, and I responded with “dulces” and we heard the door buzz open.

Brandon leading the way into the convent!

After walking a bit, we found the lazy Susan that lets the sisters sell their baked goods without being seen.

These cookies magically spun into view. Normally, they have a variety of cookies, but we gathered that on this day, these were the only option! They were lemon cookies with lots of powdered sugar. They probably wouldn’t have been our first choice, but were still delicious!

We took the cookies and Brandon put €8 on the lazy Susan for the nun. She turned the lazy Susan one more time and a plastic bag appeared for us to carry our box of cookies.

With our cookies in hand, there was just one more thing I wanted to do in Madrid. I wanted to see the modern side of the city, so we took bus #27 from the Prado museum to the towers of Puerta de Europa. Rick Steves described some of the landmarks that we rode past. So often we visit these large cities, but only see the historic side.

We splurged on our last meal in Madrid at Posada de la Villa. Our waiter was very nice and outgoing and he helped us order. We ended up with an appetizer of baby squid and the special of the house, roast lamb. After the meal, we tried the licor de madroño, liquor made from the berry trees that are a symbol of Madrid (remember the bear with tree photo at the beginning of this post?). Everything was quite delicious and a wonderful way to spend our last evening.

Unfortunately, we had to get up very early the next morning to catch Brandon’s flight. We were on different flights since the Army had booked Brandon’s ticket. Even though I left three hours after Brandon, I went to the airport with him and just waited. And on the other end, Brandon had to wait in Munich about three hours for me to arrive so we could drive back to Hohenfels together.

We had a lovely time in Madrid, and it was nice to enjoy some warmer weather before winter fully arrives. I’m not sure that we would have chosen to go to Madrid on our own, so I guess we should thank the Army for sending Brandon there! I could definitely get used to traveling with him on these “business” trips as long as they send him to friendly places like Spain!

Over Labor Day weekend, Brandon and I finally visited Hallstatt, Austria. We had originally planned to take this trip over the 4^th of July, but changed our plans at the last minute so we could make arrangements to attend my grandmother’s funeral back in the States. I am so glad that we ended up eventually visiting this beautiful place!

2 SEP 2011

Only 3.5 hours from Hohenfels, we easily drove to Hallstatt on Friday afternoon. The weather was miserable in Germany and we were a little concerned about the forecast for the weekend, but we’ve learned you just go when you can. Thankfully, the weather cleared up as we drove and we ended up having great weather over the weekend.

The drive was uneventful until we actually arrived in Hallstatt. Cars are generally not allowed to drive in town between the hours of 8am and 5pm. Since we were arriving around 5:30pm, we planned to drive straight to our hotel; however, the gate was not open on the north end of town. We drove through the tunnel above the town and found the south gate open. Now, Brandon has become quite used to driving on narrow roads, but even he thought the main road through Hallstatt was a bit too tight! It didn’t help that you also have to avoid the people that are oblivious to cars as they walk in the streets. Eventually we found our hotel and just stopped in the Market Square to go and check in. It seems like the Europeans don’t worry about finding proper parking spots, so why should we? After we checked in, we moved our car to the guest lot outside of town and had the shuttle take us back to the hotel.

We booked the Junior Suite at the Seehotel Grüner Baum because that was the only room left with a view of the lake. It was a bit of a splurge for us, but the room and balcony were absolutely beautiful. I could get used to staying in rooms like this one all the time!

After we got settled in the room, we decided to take Rick Steves’ self-guided walk before dinner since it didn’t seem like it would take that long. We started at the boat landing right next to our hotel where the Catholic Church towers above the town…

…then we went into the Protestant Church built in 1863…

…past the Protestant Church was Marktplatz (where we had parked our car before)…

…we walked down a tiny lane called Am Hof before getting to Museum Square. The final part of the walk was Dr.-Morton-Weg where one house had old tools hanging outside and a piece of the 25-mile wooden pipeline built in 1595 that carried salt brine from Hallstatt to Ebensee before it was replaced by plastic piping.

After our walk, we returned to the hotel where we ate a delicious dinner with a delightful bottle of Grüner Veltliner wine before retiring to our exquisite room.

3 SEP 2011

After eating Fruhstück at the hotel, we headed to the dock to catch the boat to Obertraun to visit the Dachstein Salzkammergut. The first boat left at 11am and the ride was beautiful and relaxing!

Rick Steves had warned us that we would have a 30-minute hike from the boat dock in Obertraun to the Dachstein lift station. Normally, we find his estimates to be on the conservative side, but this one was a bit optimistic! It took more like 45 minutes and the last part was pretty steep. Our main purpose for visiting Dachstein Salzkammergut was to go in the Riesen-Eishöhle (Giant Ice Caves) and the 5fingers viewing platform. The tricky part was accomplishing this and making it back to the boat dock for the last boat back to Hallstatt at 15:30. Needless to say, it was not a relaxing visit and we rushed through most of it. However, the Ice Cave tour was very interesting and we were still able to get some beautiful pictures from the viewing platform.

We would have been doing OK on time if we had caught one cable car earlier to descend from Krippenstein, where the 5fingers viewing platform is located. But when we got to the station, a car had just departed so we had to wait about 15 minutes for the next one. Then at the Schönbergalm station, where the caves were located, we had to wait another 15 minutes to get down to the very bottom. This extra time gave us a chance to buy a couple postcards, but we really could have used the time to walk back to the boat dock! Instead we ran/walked to the dock and made the 45 minute walk in about 25 minutes. We made the boat (which ended up leaving a bit late), but it was not pleasant in the hot sun and without lunch.

Back in Hallstatt, we grabbed some ice cream before heading up to our hotel room to recover! After a nap and a shower, we attempted to find some dinner. The restaurants were busier on Saturday than they had been on Friday, but we ended up right next door to our hotel at Gasthof Simony. Their restaurant had a lakefront garden and we were lucky to get a table outside. Dinner was good, especially the garlic soup that I ordered! We took our unfinished bottle of wine back to our room and enjoyed the rest on the balcony before crashing for the night.

4 SEP 2011

Today we vowed to take it easy! This turned out to be a simple vow to keep since our legs were still sore from all the hiking and running the day before. We also only had a few things left on our list to see in Hallstatt. After breakfast, we decided to start with the Salt-Mine Tour. Brandon and I had toured a salt mine before when we were in Berchtesgaden, Germany back in 2008; however, we failed to tell our tour guide that we spoke English so the entire tour was done in German! Needless to say, we didn’t get much out of it. Luckily, the guide spoke English on this tour so we might have actually learned something! The highlight of the salt mine tours is sliding down the miner’s slides between levels. I am happy to report that Brandon and I had the fastest times in our group although we didn’t splurge on the pricey pictures to prove it.

Again, learning from the day before, we made sure to stop for lunch! It worked out perfectly to stop at the Rudolfsturm-Restaurant by the salt mine after the tour. We were able to get a table right against the railing and the views were breathtaking. Of course, this meant that the food wasn’t the greatest. It even took so long to be served that I had to use my favorite German phrase, “Haben Sie mein Essen vergessen?”

After lunch, we visited the Catholic Church and Bone Chapel (or Charnel House). The 12^th-century Chapel of St. Michael contains more than 600 painted skulls. Rick Steves explains:

Space was so limited in this cemetery that bones had only 12 peaceful, buried years here before making way for the freshly dead. Many of the dug-up bones and skulls ended up in this chapel. They stopped this practice in the 1960s, about the same time the Catholic Church began permitting cremation. But one woman (who died in 1983) managed to sneak her skull in later (dated 1995, under the cross, with the gold tooth).

We spent the rest of the afternoon doing some souvenir shopping, eating ice cream, and simply relaxing on our balcony. We did run into a film crew making a music video in the Marktplatz. Does anyone know who this Austrian singer is?? She must be somewhat famous because people were taking lots of pictures of her and even asking for her autograph.

We ate dinner at Restaurant Bräugasthof along the lakeside. Unfortunately, it sprinkled some while we were eating, but not enough that we needed to move inside.

5 SEP 2011

The next morning the weather had changed drastically. However, it was check-out day, so we simply ate breakfast and then caught the shuttle to the parking lot in order to drive home.

Overall, we had a lovely weekend in Hallstatt, and we would return in a heartbeat. Hallstatt has definitely been added to our list of favorite places!

Me: I should write about x on my blog.

Husband: How’s Paris coming?

I am finally sick of hearing, “How’s Paris coming?” so here are the highlights from the remainder of our trip. If you make it to the end of this really long post, you’ll probably figure out why I didn’t want to write about it at the time!

Tuesday, 13 April 2010

This was probably the best day of our trip, even though it was long and exhausting. We got up bright and early (actually just early since it was still dark!) to catch a train to Normandy. We met Dutchman Roel from Victory Tours for a van tour of sites primarily in the American sector, including:

• Port Winston Artificial Harbor in Arromanches. As you can see, the day started out very overcast, windy, and cold. It was actually quite similar to the weather conditions on D-Day.

  

• Omaha Beach

  

• WWII Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

  

  

• Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument

  

• Angoville au Plain. On D-Day June 6, 1944 and the days that followed, the church in this small town was used as a medical aid station by the 101st Airborne Division, specifically two medics named Robert Wright and Kenneth Moore. The village was not secured for many hours and German patrols entered the church on at least two occasions. Wright and Moore ordered them to leave their guns outside or to leave the church. Incredibly, the Germans did. Eventually, the area was secured and many of the wounded were evacuated, but two died in the church. When you enter the church, look for a hidden doorway ascending to the steeple. From that door, on June 7th, two Germans soldiers showed up and surrendered! The church was very sobering, especially the blood stains that still remain on the pews from the wounded.

  

• Utah Beach

  

• Ste. Mère Eglise. This was the first village to be liberated by the Allies. A parachute has been reinstalled on the steeple where Private John Steele’s became snagged—though not in the correct corner!

  

We thoroughly enjoyed our day with Roel and highly recommend his tour. He leads these tours because he has a passion for this history and that was very important for us since we have family connections. My grandfather landed on Utah Beach on D-Day+1 with the 90^th Division and Brandon’s grandmother served as a nurse during the war with General Patton. We found out that if Roel had known about our family connections, he would have done some additional research into their particular units and where they served.

We would both like to go back and spend more than just one quick day in Normandy!

Wednesday, 14 April 2010

After our full day in Normandy, we took it easy the next morning and did some sightseeing relatively close to our hotel at Les Invalides & Musée de l’Armée. Les Invalides is a former veterans’ hospital built by Louis XIV and today houses Napoleon’s grand tomb.

After lunch, we explored the Musée Rodin. Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is probably most famous for the Thinker, which is located in the museum’s lovely garden.

However, we saved our heavy-duty sightseeing for the late afternoon/early evening since the Musée du Louvre is open late on Wednesdays. We followed Rick Steves’ advice and entered from the less crowded underground entrance. We also used his free iPod audio tour of the Louvre. Since we knew that we didn’t have days to spend inside this vast museum, we were really quite happy just spending a few hours and seeing the highlights. (Amazingly, photos are allowed inside!)

Thursday, 15 April 2010

Today we visited the Pére Lachaise Cemetery. Of course, I was interested in all of the famous composers that are buried in this cemetery, including Bizet, Chopin, Poulenc, and Rossini. Jim Morrison’s grave was also pretty popular. However, the cemetery is so big you almost have to buy a map from one of the florists outside to find specific graves.

We headed back to the Notre Dame area to buy some prints from the souvenir stands along the river. We also took that opportunity to visit the Mémorial de la Déportation since it had been closed when we originally did our walking tour. The simplicity of this memorial made it very moving. Here is the description from Rick Steves’:

The Mémorial de la Déportation is a memorial to the 200,000 French victims of the Nazi concentration camps (1940-1945). As you descend the steps, the city around you disappears. Surrounded by walls, you have become a prisoner. Your only freedom is your view of the sky and the tiny glimpse of the river below. Enter the dark, single-file chamber up ahead. Inside, the circular plaque in the floor reads, ‘They went to the end of the earth and did not return.’ The hallway stretching in front of you is lined with 200,000 lighted crystals, one for each French citizen who died. Flickering at the far end is the eternal flame of hope. The tomb of the unknown deportee lies at your feet. Above, the inscription reads, ‘Dedicated to the living memory of the 200,000 French deportees sleeping in the night and the fog, exterminated in the Nazi concentration camps.’ Above the exit as you leave is the message you’ll find at other Holocaust sites: ‘Forgive, but never forget.’”

Friday, 16 April 2010

We visited Sacré-Cœur and Montmartre today. The Basilica is built in the Romano-Byzantine style, which is very different from gothic Notre Dame and most of the other churches we’ve seen. In addition to the beautiful Basilica, the views of Paris were also breathtaking from Montmartre, the highest point in the city. The only ugly part was the persistent street vendors, but we did our best to ignore them. While in the area, we also saw the house where Van Gogh lived and the famous Moulin Rouge.

After lunch, we walked through the Jardin du Luxembourg, which belongs to the French Senate that meets here in the Luxembourg Palace. There are special rules throughout the garden, such as where cards can be played, where dogs can be walked, where joggers can run, and when and where music can be played. There was just a sliver of grass where people could sit and we surmised that this restriction would not go over well in Germany where we see people on the grass all the time! Since it was a beautiful spring day, there were lots of people out enjoying the garden.

The highlight of the day was taking the Bateaux-Mouches Dinner Cruise. It was a lovely evening full of delicious food and romantic views of Paris from the River Seine.

The dinner cruise should have been the perfect ending to our time in Paris…

Saturday, 17 April 2010

We were supposed to fly home to Germany today. Unfortunately, the silly volcano in Iceland had other plans. All flights were cancelled and it was chaos! We tried getting train tickets, but the earliest available train was Monday. After standing in line at Air France and waiting on hold, we finally got our flight rebooked for Monday, so we decided to try to wait it out and fly. Basically, this day was spent trying to make alternate travel plans and trying to keep Brandon from getting too frustrated!

Sunday, 18 April 2010

Since we had an unexpected full day in Paris, we decided to take advantage of it by visiting St. Sulpice Church and attending the Sunday organ concert. It seemed like a must-see sight for me after I read the description in Rick Steves’:

The Grand Orgue has a rich history, with a succession of 12 world-class organists—including Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré—that goes back 300 years. Widor started the tradition of opening the loft to visitors after the 10:30 service on Sundays. Daniel Roth (or his understudy) continues to welcome guests in three languages while playing five keyboards. The 10:30-11:30 Sunday mass is followed by a high-powered 25-minute recital. Then, just after noon, the small, unmarked door is opened. Visitors scamper like 16^th notes up spiral stairs, past the 19^th-century StairMasters that five men once pumped to fill the bellows, into a world of 7,000 pipes. You can see the organ and visit with Daniel (or his substitute).”

Daniel Roth was not there that Sunday, but the substitute was still superb. My day was made when she played the Widor Toccata after Mass. (I studied this piece in college.) Being able to see the organ up close was also fascinating. I think Brandon even found it interesting!

Since it was another beautiful day, we walked through the Luxembourg Garden again before visiting the Panthéon. The dome inspired the physicist Leon Foucault to carry out his first experiments with the pendulum in the middle of the 19^th century to demonstrate the rotation of the earth on its axis. Of course, since they also allow people to climb the 400 narrow and twisting stairs to the dome, we did, but the views of Paris were worth the effort.

By that evening, we knew that our rescheduled flight for Monday was also cancelled, so Brandon booked us on the first train available on Tuesday morning.

Monday, 19 April 2010

Today was finally our last full day in Paris! At this point, we had already seen everything we wanted to see and just wanted to be home. We didn’t receive a lot of sympathy for being “stuck” in Paris, but being stuck anywhere isn’t really a lot of fun. There really is no place like home! We spent the last day relaxing and walking around the city to see the major sights one last time.

Tuesday, 20 April 2010

Today we finally made it back home to Germany! We took the train from Paris to Nürnberg where we picked up our car at the airport and drove home to Groβbissendorf. We were happy to be home, but there wasn’t any time to recuperate before jumping back into work and our other obligations on Wednesday. I had left my Borrowed Military Manpower soldiers alone at the Tax Center to deal with the April 15^th deadline. While that is only the deadline to pay for those of us overseas (our tax filing deadline is June 15^th), there was still some craziness while I was gone that had to be straightened out when I got home. I was also in the middle of my Governmental & Not-for-Profit class at Stetson University, but luckily that was a pretty easy class after working for a nonprofit and taking the same class at Austin Peay! Needless to say, blogging about the remainder of our trip was not a high priority at the time, but it’s better late than never! So, now the answer to “How’s Paris coming?” is “It’s done!”

“Flowers. You cut yourself. Self-pay.”

The field in Parsberg grows gladioli and sunflowers.

There are knives provided, so you don’t need to plan ahead to stop and cut some flowers.

Each flower costs €0,60. “Only paid flowers bring joy/friends”. The coins go in the Kasse box on the other side of this sign.

I cut and paid for five gladioli. Once at home, I decided my piano is the perfect place to display them.

Today even more of the top blooms have opened up. It’s nice having some color in the house since the weather outside has been cloudy and gray.

• The month began with anticipation of a trip to Austria’s Lake District over the Fourth of July weekend. Unfortunately, those plans were suddenly abandoned when we learned that my Grandma Lamb had passed away on Friday, July 1^st. We quickly made plans to fly back to Iowa on Monday, July 4^th for the funeral on Wednesday, July 6^th. The service was a beautiful celebration of her 86 years and I am so grateful that we were able to be there with the rest of my family. Living in Germany is wonderful, but this was a time when we needed to be home.
• Brandon and I were blessed to be back in the U.S. when our newest niece was born on Friday, July 8^th at 4:40am. We were able to meet Emma Renee Fasse at the hospital before we had to catch our plane that afternoon. My best friend from high school, Allie, also had her baby girl on the same day, but I have to wait to meet Miss Sophia Grace.

  

• During our brief trip in the U.S., we also managed to buy new running shoes for both of us, spend a significant amount of money at Target, and visit Brandon’s parents in Omaha.
• We arrived in Germany the morning of Saturday, July 9^th and there was little time to recover from the jetlag! Brandon’s mom (Linda), his sister (Gillian), her husband (Ryan), and their one-year-old daughter (Elena) were arriving on Monday, July 11^th. We had started to prepare for their visit some before we had left for the States. We borrowed a high chair and a stroller from the Lending Closet on post and had made arrangements with our friends with children to borrow a Pack ‘n Play and some toys. Funny how it takes so much more effort to prepare for a one-year-old to visit than it does for three adults! We also rented a van from Enterprise on post so we could all ride in one vehicle, but that turned out to be a bit of an ordeal. Due to the failures of other renters, our reserved van was not available and it took until Thursday to get something.
• Most importantly, our visitors arrived safe and sound to the Munich airport on Monday morning. Unfortunately, we had run into several Staus (traffic jams) outside of the city and their plane had landed early, so we weren’t there to greet them immediately. After getting their luggage to our cars, we took the train into the Altstadt for lunch and to sightsee. This strategy seems to work really well when we have visitors because it keeps them awake! They can take a little nap on the way home in the car, but then they have to wake up again for dinner. It seems that the later you can stay up that first day, the better you can cope with the jetlag.
• Following are the highlights of each day while Linda, Gillian, Ryan, and Elena were in Bavaria:
  • Monday, 11 JUL: Arrived in Munich. Saw some of the Altstadt and ate lunch at the Hofbräuhaus
  • Tuesday, 12 JUL: Velburg castle ruins. Dinner at the Indian Restaurant in Regensburg.
  • Wednesday, 13 JUL: BMW Factory Tour in Munich.

    

  • Thursday, 14 JUL: Nürnberg.
  • Friday, 15 JUL: Neuschwanstein & Hohenschwangau.

    

  • Saturday, 16 JUL: Hohenfels Training Area & Laaber Chocolate Factory.
  • Sunday, 17 JUL: Visited Ryan’s college roommate, Dan, and his fiancé, Ines, at her sister’s house in Ebersdorf bei Coburg.
  • Monday, 18 JUL: Bamberg and Basilika Vierzehnheiligen.

    

  • Tuesday, 19 JUL: Walhalla and more of Regensburg.

    

  • Wednesday, 20 JUL: Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

    

  • Thursday, 21 JUL: Schnitzel Festival at Rechbergerhof.

    

  • Friday, 22 JUL: Danube River cruise from Kelheim to Weltenberger Kloster and back. Summer Rodelbahn.

    

  • Saturday, 23 JUL: Flew back to Omaha.
• The last week of the month was spent “unbabying” the house, returning items we had borrowed, going back to work, and trying to get back into a routine.
• This past weekend, I performed for the first time with the Symphonisches Blasorchester der Stadt Regensburg. This “Kino Kino” concert was in Nittenau and featured movie music, including Star Wars, The Rock, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Forrest Gump, Out of Africa, and Chicken Run. I’ve been rehearsing with them since the end of May and I really enjoy playing with this group. The members of the clarinet section are really nice and they do their best to translate for me. Playing with a group where the primary language is English will seem much too easy when I return to the U.S.!

So, that is our July in a nutshell. I’m sure August will somehow be just as crazy, but maybe I’ll do better at blogging about it! (Do I write that at the end of every blog post??)

If you are interested, you can see lots more photos of our adventures with Linda, Ryan, Gillian & Elena, check out Ryan’s Flickr page!