Garmisch and touring the Linderhof Palace

Well, let me see if I can get the rest of our trip to Garmisch posted without having any problems.

Let me just say that we LOVED Garmisch! It's such a beautiful town, surrounded on all sides by the Bavarian Alps. It was wonderful. I can't wait to go back and spend about a week there. Edelweiss is run by the military and is such a nice place to get away to.

This picture was taken on our balcony, so you can see how it's nestled into the mountains. There are lots of ski resorts in this area. We're making plans to go back sometime in the winter. It must be even more beautiful covered in snow.

Before heading home on Monday, we decided to tour Linderhof Palace, which was another home of King Ludwig II. He had the majority of the walls covered in gold plating. Certainly not my style, but it was very interesting. We weren't allowed to take pictures indoors, so unfortunately I can't show what it was like. The grounds were really beautiful too, so here are a few pictures from our time there.

Us in front of the Linderhof Palace

This is an Asian tea house on the property and Sam poking his head through the curtain.

In Stuttgart, we live in the Swabian area of Germany, but this area around Garmisch is called Bavarian. It's interesting to see the differences between areas as we travel through the country. One thing I noticed that was different in Bavaria is the murals on the walls of houses. They are really beautiful. On some houses there is even painting around the windows, like in this picture.

Well, that was our trip. I think this weekend we're going to head to Schweinfurt to visit a friend from Hawaii. We'll see how that goes. Thankfully, we're planning to take the train, so we shouldn't get too lost.

Dachau Concentration Camp

We returned from our trip to Garmisch Monday evening, but I've been having complications with my blog and was unable to post. I believe the bugs have been worked out, so here we go again.

We planned on visiting Eagle's Nest with the USO tour, but on Friday they called saying the trip had been canceled because enough people had not signed up for it. So, instead of staying at home we decided to do the trip on our own. The funny thing is - we never made it to Eagle's Nest, but had a lot of fun other places.

We planned on leaving very early Sunday morning and driving to Dachau to tour the concentration camp when it opened, then driving on down to Garmisch to spend the night at Edelweiss Resort. We didn't get out quite as early as we wanted because we were woke up at 2:00am by Sam's bother, Stefan, calling from Japan. They never remember the time difference, so it ended up being the middle of the night for us. After such calls, Sam always says he's going to return the favor some day :)

We were on the road around 9:00am and drove to Dachau. Amazingly, we didn't get too lost, so we were parked and walking in around 11:15. It's really odd to be in a place, like Dachau, where there is so much negative history associated with it. We found it really strange that there were houses built just feet from the concentration camp walls (see picture at left). I can't imagine living that close to a place where such atrocities happened. The prison area was very large, but I read it was built for about 10,000 and ended up housing 63,000, so I can only imagine how crowded it must have been. It's not easy looking at all the pictures displayed and reading about the prisoners, but I feel it's important to see that part of history. Visiting a place such as Dachau is not really a fun trip, but more informative and historic.

Dachau was the first regular concentration camp established by the Nazi government. I believe most of the Jewish prisoners were transported to the other concentration camps, however, about one third of the Dachau prisoners were Jewish. Many of the others were political or religious prisoners. They also used the prisoners here in medical experiments.

This is the entrance to the prison. You can see the phrase that was on the prison gates meaning "Work brings freedom".

The rooms above the prison doors were used as administrative offices

The electric fence that surrounds the concentration camp and a guard tower.

Dachau guard tower

The first building we toured was made up of 137 individual cells. I believe this is where some of the political prisoners and even some German soldier prisoners were housed. There were also some cells that held imprisoned religious figures.

Looking down the hallway with prison cells on each side.

Standing by one of the cell doors

Inside one of the prison cells

This is the roll call area where the prisoners would have to gather each morning to be counted.

There are only a couple of bunkhouses that are still standing and only one of them was open for viewing. Inside we saw the bunk beds that the prisoners slept on (I'm sure not the original beds), the lockers, tables and bathrooms. It had to have been incredibly cramped with about 1,600 people in each of these bunkhouses. The foundations of the other bunkhouses were left in place, so you can see how many there actually were.

The lockers used by the prisoners

The bathroom sinks

The foundations for the bunkhouses that were torn down. They are all numbered.

At the backside of the prison was the crematorium and gas chambers. Set up in a way to make the prisoners think they were going in for a shower only to be killed. From what I read, it doesn't sound like they used the gas chambers at Dachau for mass killings though. I'm not sure if they were ever used for that purpose at this concentration camp.

The crematorium ovens

Well, that was our tour of Dachau. The computer is acting up and not wanting to post pictures, so I'll blog about the rest of our trip in another post. Until then...

Our weekend

It's amazing to me how many fruit trees we see in people's yards. And they have LOTS of fruit on them. Let me see...so far I've seen cherry, pear, apple, plum, white plum, orange, lemon and I'm sure others that I didn't know what they were. Of course, there are also red and black raspberries, blueberries and Johannes berries. We're really behind in that area. Of course it wouldn't benefit us long term, but we want to get some different fruit trees planted in the back yard. We were out back with Gabby the other evening and our neighbor came out and wanted to know if we would like to have some white plums. Of course we did, so he gave us this container full. I'd never seen white plums before. They weren't too bad, but not quite as sweet as what we usually have from the store. I just love the idea of getting fruit from your own trees.

Friday morning Sam dropped the truck off at the garage for some work and he didn't get home early enough to get it that evening. So...Saturday morning we walked down the hill to the garage. On the way we stopped in at the farmer's market. The produce at the market is so fresh looking. It seems a bit more expensive than the store though. At least compared to commissary prices. I love going out early here in Germany. You may not be able to see it real clear, but the picture to the right is going down our street toward town and every morning people hang their bedding out the windows to air out. I love the long standing rituals that you see here in Europe. I don't think I've ever seen bedding hanging out of windows back in the states.


I'm not real sure about this, but I think almost every town has one of these fresh water spigots. This one is dated back several hundred years. I can't help but think at one time they were the water troughs for the horses. I could be wrong though. Sometimes you see people drinking the water, so I'm sure it's pretty fresh.


We found this sign very interesting. Don't take my word for it, but from what we got from Sam's translation is that Plattenhardt claims to be the home of the father of U.S. Aviation. Hmmmm. I learn something new every day. I didn't realize U.S. Aviation started in Germany. It seems like almost all German towns have a claim to fame. I guess that's ours.

This was just a beautiful rose that I saw outside of the bakery we stopped at for breakfast.

The Farmer's Market we visited

One of the many things I love about living here is the abundance of historic places to visit. Sunday evening Sam and I went out for a drive. We wanted to see what was on down the road past our exit. We went through a few small villages and saw some really neat antique stores that we want to go visit sometime. We ended up on a road that we'd been on before and knew there was an old monastery there. We had the nicest time walking through the grounds. It was built in the 1100's. We don't know the history of it for sure, but from what Sam read it sounds like it was originally built as a monastery, then was taken over by a king for awhile who built up the castle walls. I'm not real sure what it's used for now. There is a church on the grounds. We happened to show up just in time for a musical concert. It was a choir accompanied by a string ensemble. It sounded beautiful in that old stone building. We didn't stay for the whole concert, but could hear the singing as we walked around the grounds looking at the other buildings. It was just a beautiful evening that we really enjoyed together. Here are a few more pictures from last night.

Sam standing at the entrance to the Kloster Bebenhausen

Me standing in front of one of the old buildings

Me in front of a tower that in the late 1800's was used as a restaurant then later a guest house.

A section of Kloster Bebenhausen

Today I booked us on a USO tour for next weekend. We're going to tour Eagle's Nest (which was built for Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday) and visit the salt mines. Should be interesting. We haven't gone on a USO tour yet, so we wanted to see what that's like. It does cost money, but would if we drove too and this way we're pretty sure we won't spend several hours lost. We're pretty good at getting ourselves lost. We're thinking about investing in a GPS navigator for the car.

The cool weather has returned and I'm loving it! It's very windy and rainy out today, but it really feels nice. Well, I better get busy. Have some things that need to get done today. Until next time....

It's hot!! I want the rain back!

We have a lot of different trees in our back yard. Several huge evergreens and a some smaller trees and bushes. This picture is of one of those trees that has blossomed beautifully. It just looked like a small tree until these beautiful blooms started popping out. It's absolutely gorgeous and thought you all might enjoy it too. The blooms remind of a hibiscus. I don't know what it is though. The steps and the door you see lead into the garage.

A close look at the flowers.

This is a Johannes Berry bush. We have several in the back yard with lots of bright red berries on them. I would love to make some jelly out of the berries so they don't go to waste, but haven't been able to find canning jars or pectin. I need to look in some German stores I suppose. I don't think they're the tastiest berries, but would probably do alright in a jelly.

It has been HOT, HOT, HOT in Germany the last few days. Sunday (in the sun) it was 104º. We've been doing our best to keep the sun out of the house by keeping the rolladens down during the day, but even so, these houses just heat up like a brick oven. It'll take a few days to cool off once we get cooler weather again. We have been sleeping in the guest room downstairs because it's about 80º upstairs and that's just not comfortable to sleep in. I'm thankful we have a basement to go to when it gets this hot.

Saturday evening we went to a birthday party for one of the girls that works with Sam in CYS. Those of you who really know me, know that I was not at all excited about spending the whole evening with a large group of people that I don't know. I knew it was important to Sam though, so we went. He absolutely loves going to parties and interacting with everyone. It did end up being a really nice evening. Sam had a lot of fun playing volleyball. It was an interesting group of people. About half American and half German. It was a beautiful place and I should have taken pictures. It was on a farm, way out in the country. They had a cookout and we sat at tables in the shade of a huge walnut tree. It's a place my Mom would absolutely love. Chicken coop, barn, farm house and all.

On the way to the birthday party, Sam wanted to run the truck through the car wash. There was one on the way that he had been wanting to try. He bought a ticket for the car wash at the gas station across the road. I think where we went wrong was putting the ticket in before driving in. It was not a drive through and the brushes started going before we got in there. At one point Sam didn't think it was reaching the back of the truck so he backed up and the wash just stopped. He moved the truck forward....nothing. We were stuck. There was a concrete wall in front of us and the brush rollers were sitting on the back of the truck. Finally, about 45 minutes later the gas station attendant was able to get someone to come help. I'm sure he was thinking "Stupid Americans...." He said that we shouldn't have taken the truck in, but there were no signs saying not to.

Today I went to the doctor. I've been having a lot of pain in my right shoulder. It's hurt on and off for a couple of years. I just assumed it was strain from working at a computer and reaching for a mouse all day. Then it got much worse once we moved to Germany. Maybe I strained it during packing or toting a heavy duffel bag of groceries to and from the Romerhof when we were staying there. Whatever it is......it hasn't gotten better in 3 months. The doctor didn't see anything unusual, so just put me on heavy anti-inflammatory medicine. She's also sending me to a physical therapist for further help. I'm really hoping that this helps because the pain has been keeping me up at night.

Sam and I have finally gotten ourselves back to the gym. It's so hard to get back into it, but we've been going steady now for about a month. At first we were going to the gym at Patch Barracks, but since it's further away Sam wasn't able to come home and shower before work. He would just take clothes with him. It's wasn't very convenient for long term. We tried the Kelley Barracks gym, which is much closer and it has worked out great. It's not very busy and Sam is able to come home before heading to work. I've been a little frustrated with being unable to do any upper body exercises. I'm hoping my shoulder starts feeling better real soon.

Well, that's about it for now. Here's one more parting shot of our baby. Gabby lives for food and going outside. Sam takes her out usually every morning and evening. She complains every time we bring her in.

Visiting castles in Fussen, Germany

Saturday morning we headed out to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle in the town of Fussen, near the German-Austrian border. It is only about 2 1/2 hours from where we live, but for us it turned into a 5 hour trip. We seem to get lost on every trip we take. This wasn't really our fault though. We followed the directions exactly, which took us on a beautiful drive through the mountains, unfortunately that wasn't where we intended to go.

By the time we arrived in Fussen, it was too late to get an English speaking tour of the castles, so we just visited the shops and ate a late lunch.

It's a really neat area. Lots of shops and cobblestone streets and you look right up the hillsides to both castles.

There are actually two castles very close to each other. The older of the two, Hohenschangau Castle, is where Mad King Ludwig II grew up. The other, Neuschwanstein Castle, was built for King Ludwig as an adult.

From what I understand, Neuschwanstein Castle is what Walt Disney based his Disney Land Castle on. It looks like a perfect fairy tale castle. It's beautiful country there and we'll definitely go back when we have more time. Of course, we'll know where we going next time. Here are a few pictures from Saturday -

Beautiful scenery driving through the Alps. This was when we were lost, but we enjoyed it anyhow.

Sam and I with Neuschwanstein castle in the background.

Hohenschangau Castle

Horse drawn wagon that you can take to the castle.

Me with Neuschwanstein Castle in the background

The restaurant where we had lunch.

One of the shops along the street.

The 4th of July

I'm a bit late reporting on our 4th of July. Actually we didn't do too much. It was a little strange...this being our first year celebrating such a patriotic holiday out of the country. The day before, Sam was talking to one of the German bus drivers who was asking what holiday it was. Of course saying "the 4th of July" meant nothing to someone who is not American. So finally Sam said it was America's birthday.

Patch Barracks was having a celebration of sorts and we planned to spend at least part of the day out there. It was planned to start at 1:00 with the Commander tapping the keg. I hate to admit my ignorance, but I envisioned him literally tapping the keg with a stick or something. I had no idea what it meant until Sam filled me in. Here in Germany to start a celebration they tap the cork into the keg to open it. It doesn't seem like much is done here without the presence of beer (or any kind of alcohol).

Well, we were there at 1:00 (even though it was raining), but then found out it had been postponed until 5:00. That threw a wrench in our plans, so we just messed around the house and went out to eat that evening, then back to Patch Barracks. We had fun on the Bumper Cars and Sam won a couple of beer steins. It would have been nice to see the fireworks, but that wasn't until 10:30 and Sam had to get up early for work. Besides, it was still raining.

I really enjoy living here and we're taking in all that we can, but at times I really miss the USA. I'm American to the core and while I like it here, I look forward to returning home someday.

The picture at the top is the entrance to Patch Barracks. The streets were lined with American flags. It was very beautiful, but the picture doesn't do it justice.

The Plattenhardt fest

I guess I got this from Mom, but I love houseplants. They just make a house look more alive. Every place I've lived I had a ficus/fig tree that would get really nice and big then I'd move and have to give it away. I bought two here, but they are pretty small. All the plants I bought came in smaller pots, so I've been needing to replant them. The dirt at the PX is labeled in German, so I had to take Sam with me to decipher which one to get. We finally got around to it this weekend. We actually got quite a bit done. Herr Muller and his friend, Michael, came Saturday and put the first coat of paint on the shed. Sam and I had to make a run to Obi (German home depot store) and while we were there we found a McIntosh apple tree. All of our neighbors either have cherry, apple, lemon or orange trees and they always look so attractive, so we bought one for the back yard. Sam planted it out back and I got all of the house plants transferred to bigger pots.

Outside of our living room window there is a very large planter box attached to the house. I was going to plant flowers in it when the household goods arrived, so that got delayed. Yesterday, Sam worked at getting all of the weeds out of it. I don't think flowers have been planted there for several years and it was just full of weeds. I'm thinking about planting some Hibiscus seeds that I got from Grandma Thorne. I want something that will come back every year and will flower throughout the summer. The flowers here in Germany are quite expensive so if I have to replant that every year I'd end up spending a lot of money on it.

Gabby loves to get outside any chance she gets.

It seems like there is a small town fest going on every week here in Germany. Plattenhardt had their fest this last weekend. After going to the theater at Patch on Saturday evening we stopped in to see what it was like. They had the main street blocked off and lots of vendors set up. There was a concert going on and of course almost everyone had a drink in their hands. I don't think I've ever felt more like a foreigner here than I did walking through that crowd of about 1,500 people. It was an uncomfortable feeling for me and the first time I really felt like a stranger here. Of course they all didn't know that we were American, but it felt like I had a big bull's eye painted on my back. It was interesting and probably not that uncomfortable for Sam since he could understand people talking. This next weekend we're going to the fest in Bonlanden (the next town over) with Michael. He and Herr Muller wanted us to go with them to Plattenhardt's, but we already had other plans, so we said we'd go next weekend. From what I hear the Bonlanden fest has been around for a long time (100 years??). Should be interesting :)

Well, that's about it for now. I'm going to see what's going on downstairs. It's too quiet. I think my husband must have fallen asleep reading the newspaper.