Anniversary trip to Spain

September 4th  marked the 4th anniversary of our marriage.  It's hard to believe we've been married for four years already.  Time does go by fast, although in some ways it seems like a lifetime ago that we were living so far apart.  We either emailed or talked on the phone just about every day for those two years we "dated".  I think those were important times because we really learned who each of us was during all those conversations.  Even though we thought we knew each other well it was still a huge adjustment to go from the long distance to being in the same house after marriage.  I think Sam made the adjustment with more grace than I did.  He's a much more easy-going person.  He sees life as an adventure and looks forward to the changes that life brings.  I, on the other hand, look at life very seriously and worry about every change before, during and long after it's happened. 

Getting married was no exception.  It was very hard to leave my home and family.  I didn't want to have to choose between my family and Sam.  I wanted them both.  I always saw myself  staying in Alaska and being near my parents.  I love spending time with my family.  There is nowhere I feel more comfortable than at home with them.  That is when I feel the most "me".  I know who I am there. 

Through all the ups and downs Sam and I are committed to each other and I can't think of anyone I would rather spend my life with.  I'm so blessed with the husband God brought into my life.  I'm so thankful for him.  He keeps our life interesting to say the least and he is patient with me through all of my moods.  I'm so proud to call him my husband and to share my life with him.  He's the sweetest and most fun person I know.  I really am blessed to be married to my best friend. 

While overseas something we want to take advantage of is being in such close proximity to so many other countries.  Sam's been wanting to go somewhere warm and near the ocean, so he's been busy planning a trip to southern Spain. We left Stuttgart very early Friday morning to drive to the Frankfurt-Hahn airport.  Flying into Spain I was surprised to see miles upon miles of agricultural land.  It seemed to be a bit past the growing season though because everything looked dry and brown.  It could just be the time of year it is.  Perhaps in January or February it's green and lush.  It wasn't too hot, which I was happy about. 

Sam had made lodging reservations at the Naval Base in Rota.  Something interesting though is the base is owned and controlled by the Spanish Navy.  The American Navy is just stationed there.  So when we went to get the visitor pass for the car we were told we were not allowed on post.  Well then...I was trying to think if we saw any hotels on our way in....nope, can't say I did.  Rota seems pretty poor and run down and I wasn't looking forward to finding a place to stay there.  Thankfully, it was finally determined that we would be allowed in just because Sam had an official leave slip signed.  WHEW!!!  That was a relief. 

We were so happy to finally get checked in at the Navy Lodging.  We found the Spanish people to be really warm and friendly.  
Just about everyone we met was very helpful and friendly. Even the man who originally told us we were not allowed on post.  He was very nice while banning us from entering :)

At the base of Spain and just across the Strait of Gibraltar is Tangier, Morocco.  Sam really wanted to go into Africa and kill two birds with one stone.  So, Saturday morning we drove a couple of hours south to Tarifa.  Tarifa reminded us both of the North Shore in Hawaii.  Just a nice surfer town.  We took a ferry across to Tangier.  We were really excited about our visit to Africa.  Unfortunately,if I ever go back to Morocco it will be too soon.  As soon as we walked off the ferry we were bombarded with people trying to get us to hire them to be our tour guide.  They were absolutely relentless and would not take no for an answer.  It was incredibly unnerving to me.  We would just get rid of one when another one would approach and pester us.  They followed us everywhere and would ignore us when we kept saying no.  One of them was saying they would take us in their car to the city.  My thought was "that sounds like something you hear on the news.  Two Americans disappear in Morocco".  I wasn't about to get into their car.  I didn't trust anyone there.  To make what felt like a long story short - we never left the harbor and within 45 minutes were back on the ferry heading back to Spain.   I was very uncomfortable with how aggressive the people were.  To make matters worse there was (I found out later) a two hour time different from Tarifa to Tangier and no one could seem to give us the correct time so we didn't know for sure when the next ferry was leaving.  I really wanted to go into town to do some shopping.  One Euro was equal to 11 Dirhams, so I was looking forward to it, but I never felt safe enough to leave the harbor.  It was a shame to be there and not really see the city.  Oh well, I would rather be safe.

Here's Sam as we were getting ready to board the ferry.

 

On the ferry - The land mass behind us is Africa.

 

Looking back at Tarifa, Spain

 

Heading toward the harbor of Morocco

 

I was so happy to get back to our car and be on our way back to Rota.  I really don't enjoy being in foreign countries.  Germany is still foreign and is not home to me, but at least here Sam speaks the language and it feels more safe. 

Sunday we stayed close and just went to a local beach.  We were there for a couple of hours and the sun was refusing to shine so we got up to leave.  We walked a ways down the boardwalk and by the time we got back to the car the sun was out.  So, we headed back to the beach for a little while and managed to get just a little bit of color. 

Leaving the beach we saw this huge cactus plant.

We headed back to German Monday morning.  Friend's of Sam's family live close to the Frankfurt-Hahn airport and they were gracious enough to let us park the car at their place over the weekend.  They dropped us off and picked us up from the airport.  We visited with them for a little while before heading back to Stuttgart.  Sam had to work in the morning.  I had taken the next day off and I'm so glad I did.  I really enjoyed just having a day to hang around the house.  I was able to get a few things done that I don't usually get to through the week. 

Well, that's about it for now.  Until next time...

This and that....

Another week has come and gone.  Seems like summer is coming to an end here in Germany.  I can't say that I'm sorry to see the hot weather give way to cooler days.  I am most comfortable on crisp fall or winter days.  I'm sure it stems from growing up in Alaska.  I feel most at home in cool weather.  It just gives me this snuggly feeling of wanting to be home with family. Cooler weather makes me think of the holidays too and I love that time of  year.  Anyhow, I'm sure we still have some warm days ahead, but it's been chilly at night and we actually turned the floor heat on in the living room the other day.  With tile throughout the house it was getting really cold at times. 

Sam's parents are coming for a visit around the middle of September. It's going to be nice having them here.  There is still so much that I need to do in this house, but it's a slow work in progress.  One thing that's really been baffling to me here in Germany is where to get curtains.  I know that must seem very odd, but a lot of our windows have no room for a curtain rod above, so I'll need to use a track system that they have here.  My problem was I couldn't seem to find curtains that were made to be used with the track.  Yesterday we were at Obi and Sam talked to one of the workers and, bless her heart, she explained the whole thing to us.  So now, I know how to do that, but Sam has to install all the tracks in the windows and I just need to pick out curtains. 

I'm not crazy about the color I painted the main floor (living room and dining room), so I'm looking at paint again.  I'm sure it won't get done before Mom and Higgins get here, but will as soon as I have time. 

Speaking of having time...I'm happy to say that as of Friday I accepted another position back in the NAF office (the job I left in June) although this time I'm going to be working part time as an HR Specialist.  I've very happy about this move.  While I'm glad to have the experience of working in the CPAC it's just too stressful for me right now.  Our office is responsible for bringing on the new employees for AFRICOM (the brand new Africa Command here in Stuttgart) and we're  on a timeline to get them to full operation by a certain date.  It's been requiring a lot of overtime and we don't really have much support from management.  Prior to this I never thought I would take a part time position, but at this point quality of life wins over the monetary advantage of working full time. I'll  be transferring to the new job on 29 September.

I should be working around 5 hours a day which is perfectly fine with me.  I love the idea of having 4 extra hours in the day.  Time to keep up with the house during the week and get some much needed projects done.  I probably won't be taking much time off while Sam's parents are here though because I will have just switched jobs once again, but I may get a couple of days off. 

Sam and I got a kick out of this.  Last week in church one of the ladies said that her daughter had a picture for us.  She said it reminded her of us (Sam and me).  Here it is....

Isn't that the funniest thing?  Of all the pictures out there, this one made her think of us.  People have told us that we resemble each other.  I don't know if that's what made her think of us or that we're short and stubby.  Either way, we thought it was cute and we have the picture hanging on our fridge.

Well, that about it for now. Until next time...

Our Lazy Day

I'm going to try posting from Windows Live Writer again and hope it does alright.  It's a lot simpler than Blogger, so I want to see if it works better on the second time around.

We've had a really nice and slow Saturday.  The Olympics started yesterday, but with the time delay, the opening ceremony came on here at 8:00 this morning.  We watched that for several hours this morning, then Sam took off to go to some stores.  He's returning my cell phone for I believe it's the 3rd time now.  I got the phone in January, but it's just never worked right.  It doesn't hold a charge.  It's completely unreliable.  Sometimes it holds a charge for a day, other times just a few hours.  It's never available when I need it, so really what's the point in having it?  The first time we took it back to Media Markt we were told that legally they had the right to fix it 3 times before we could request a replacement phone, so we're now on the 3rd return for the same problem and we'll see if I can get a different phone.

Several months ago Sam put in for another position within CYS and just two weeks ago he was selected for and accepted it.  He'll be the new Child & Youth Services Administrator, which is a brand new job so he doesn't know entirely what it will consist of.  Regardless, we think it's a good move for him.  He loves his job as SAS director and loves being in a position where he can interact with the kids, but this is a step up and overall a good thing.  I'm so proud of him.  His center is known to be a good place to work at because he's a great boss and his personality makes for a fun place to work.  I had a pretty good feeling he would be selected, but I'm happy that it worked out and I just hope he enjoys it too. 

Last weekend we  had Carmen, my friend from Hawaii, and her family over.  They arrived in Germany in December and are stationed in Heidelberg.  I thought we would have gotten together long before now, but it's not easy when we're both working and we only have the weekends.  Anyhow, it was nice to see them again.  We cooked out here at the house then took the train to downtown Stuttgart later in the afternoon.  Wouldn't you know I didn't get the camera out all day?  So... I have no pictures to show for that day.

Since June we've had a lot of construction taking place behind our house.  We were less than thrilled to know a house was going up behind us, but knew it was a possibility since we didn't own the land.  It's going to be a single family house then in front of it, closer to the road, there's going to be a double house built.  They really build the houses close together here.  It's been interesting watching the process.  I took a few pictures just when the basement was being dug and started, then forgot to take any more until just recently.  It's going to be quiet out back for several weeks now because the construction workers are on "holiday".  We've found that most people take their vacations during August.  A lot of family run restaurants close for several weeks during this  time too.

 

The back of our house as they started to dig the basement

                       More of the basement dug out

                               Starting on the basement

                               This is how it looks today

           What we see on the other side of our yard

As you can see the house is right out our back door, but at least we have a fence up and their yard will be dug down to the level of ours.  The stones and fence will provide a good barrier between us.  Sam's thinking about replacing the fence we have with a taller solid fence that would totally block the view.

Well, that's about it from here.  Until next time...

Blogger issues

If you have Google Reader, you saw that last post about 3 different times. Sorry about that. I used Windows Live Writer for that post and it cut one of the pictures off. When I went into Blogger to edit it some of the HTML script wasn't recognized. I have other things I need to be doing instead of spending an hour trying to figure this out, but I'm done for the night.

Playing catch up

I should apologize for how neglectful I've been of my blog lately. Both Mom and Tom commented on it being well over a month since my last post. Hopefully I haven't lost my few faithful readers :) I've just been so busy and overloaded that I haven't had it in me to stop and take the time to put a post together.

This month has flown by. It's hard to believe Mom and Dad have been gone for 7 weeks already. I loved having them here and I'm already looking forward to our visit at Christmas.

After they left I returned to work at NAF for only one week then switched to my new position in CPAC. It's just down the hall and I already knew the people I'd be working with so I wasn't too nervous about starting. It's ended up being far more stressful than I thought it would be though. I've been doing some serious contemplating about staying there or moving on. I don't want to work overtime because my life outside of work is more important to me, but I feel like I'm almost expected to there. It's been necessary to work some extra hours just to stay on top of the workload, but I'm really fighting falling into that trap.

There may be another job opportunity on the horizon. If things turn out the way I'm secretly hoping - I may even be working less hours which would be wonderful, but until it's set in stone I'll not go into too much detail. I wouldn't want to jinx it.

I'm the only American in my area of the CPAC and it's proven to be a little interesting. I like cool weather and the two other ladies like it HOT. They get cold at the slightest breeze, so on days like today (90 degrees out) they refuse to turn on the AC. If someone does turn it on the reprieve only lasts for a few minutes before one of them says their throat is hurting. I have bitten my tongue on a number of occasions.

In all my years I've never had my name scrutinized like I have here in Germany. Obviously, Mom and Dad didn't consult the world before naming me. German's don't like the name and several people at work can't seem to say "Misty". I didn't think it was that hard, but obviously I was mistaken. My name comes out as Mitzy, Missy, Melissa, Mindy,...anything but MISTY. I've given up on correcting them and just answer to anything that sounds similar to my name.

Something that really surprised me is that (from what I gather) a lot of German women have house cleaners. One girl I work with who is younger than me and has a young child, was gong to be interviewing a new cleaner. I was surprised that she would have a cleaner for her house and she said "Well, I don't want to clean my house." Well then....I never knew it was an option. I always thought if I wanted a clean house then I had to clean it. We American's are so unenlightened , aren't we? Sure it might make life easier, since I'm working full time, but I still take pride in cleaning my own home.

Summer's always a busy time for Sam because the SAS kids are out of school and need full time care. This summer's even busier with having lost several of his long time employees over the last couple of months. Several college age kids are back with Camp Adventure. Sam had pity on them and asked me to make a dinner for them. So, I sent in a pan of lasagna, rolls and cookies. They seemed to enjoy it so much that I'll probably try to make dinner for them again before they leave.

Unfortunately, the cats are still not getting along. I really thought after two months they would be getting along a little better, but Gabby just can't stand the sight of Papa. She actually searches for him, then picks at and chases him around the house. Poor little guy. I feel bad for him, but he is completely capable of fighting back, but is docile enough that he won't until he's had enough. While Gabby picks at Papa mercilessly, he doesn't seem to "get it" either. He'll follow her around until she sees him, then hisses and swats to chase him away. You would think he'd steer clear of her, but he just seems too interested in her to stay away.

His absolute favorite place in the house is the couch. He will lay there for hours. He's so cute. Sam says he reminds him of a cartoon character. He's so big and it's cute when he tries to run. He's probably the sweetest cat I've ever known.

His newest favorite spot though is Sam's recliner. Sometimes he's there when I leave for work and in the exact same spot when I get home 9 hours later. He must move at some point through the day, but you wouldn't know it.

We saw a rat out back on the patio tonight. Sam promptly closed all windows. There's a lot of construction going on behind our house and I think it's chasing the little critters out. We have to be careful because we have the cats that go out back , but if I know my husband he'll be setting traps all over the back yard.

In the past I've mentioned our ongoing saga of the phone lines. Here's the most recent update. Back a few months ago we moved the router down to the living room behind the entertainment center so all the wires could be hidden. The downside of that was the desktop no longer received a signal. We wanted to try the router in a different jack closer to the computer, but Deutch Telecom told us we could only have one phone jack working at a time, so we were stuck. Deutch Telecom has a monopoly on the phone business and it's absolutely ridiculous. Every time they come out to turn on a different jack it cost about $100. It's just a way to cheat people out of money if you ask me. Anyhow, Sam knows someone who said they could get all of our jacks working, so we had him come out. He's an electrician by trade and had never seen such a poor wiring job as what he found here. The phone jacks had never even been connected. The wires were just in a roll down in the utility room. Early on we asked what the wires were for because they were coming out of the wall and looked like they should be hooked to something, but of course we never got a straight answer. A job that should have been relatively simple turned into a couple day job. We were very happy when he got all of our phone jacks working. Unfortunately, it hasn't helped the Internet connection on the desk top, but at least now if we decide to move the router again we can just do it and not have to pay yet again.

Well, I think that about covers what's been going on in our lives. I'll try to do better about updating this blog. We need to get the desktop working again, so I can post some more recent pictures. Until then, this will have to do.

Our trip to Venice

(Once again, this post is very late. It was started the day after Mom and Dad left and I'm just now to the point of posting it. I think this one should catch me up to date though. With going back to work this week I haven't had the time I need to get them finished.)

Sadly, Mom and Dad left yesterday morning. Since they were scheduled to fly out of Frankfurt, we left the house at 6:00 to give us enough time for the drive, getting checked in and finding the gate. I hate saying goodbye to my family. Someday I hope to live close to them again. Visits are not enough for me because it's never enough. It's just a visit. Not everyday life, but everyone on top of each other for a few weeks and no matter how much we enjoy being together it's never as comfortable as when we can interact on a more regular basis and not try to force everything into a few weeks. I always feel like I need to soak it all up while they're here to hold me over to the next visit, but it just doesn't work that way.

The house felt very empty when we got home from Frankfurt. It was strangely quiet with just the two of us in the house...not counting the two bickering cats. Mom often leaves me a little note when they've been here visiting. It's always nice to hear from her one more time. She didn't disappoint and I found the note in the guest room. Thanks Mom :o)

I'm coming down with some bug. Dad was pretty sick a couple of days they were here, then Sam came down with it a few days ago. Yesterday morning I started feeling a sore throat. Hopefully I can get over it by Monday. I'm sure a call to my boss on Monday morning would not be very welcome. Especially since it's my last week with NAF. I know my plate will be quite full with finishing things up with that job in time to move to the other one the following Monday.

During my previous blogs about Mom and Dad being here I somehow skipped over several days and also failed to post our trip to Venice, which was awesome! So, even though it's late and out of order I'm still going to post it.

First though, just a couple of days after they got here we went to Berg Hohen Zollern which is a castle that is very close to us and is still owned by the royal family which once occupied it. They were the rulers of Prussia and the sole heir owns it now and has private quarters in the castle where he lives when in the area.

Some of us (not me) were feeling energetic, so we decided to climb the hill to and from the castle. Keep in mind - castles by nature are at the very top of the hill. I wasn't incredibly excited about it, but figured I could use the exercise too, so off we went. At the end I was glad we walked it. We had a lot of fun.

Mom and Dad climbing the stairs to the castle

Sam on the way to the castle

Me and Sam at the castle entrance

Mom sitting in the castle wall

Mom looking out one of the guard towers

Sam and Dad standing on the castle gate covering the mote

One of the towers

Mom and Dad

This is where we entered for the tour of the castle -

unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside.

Now on to Venice. One week after Mom and Dad got here we headed to Venice, Italy. It was about a 6 to 8 hour drive and through the most beautiful country. Our trip took us from Germany, through the Alps of Austria and then into Italy. I can't even explain how beautiful it was. We were right in the mountains and gorgeous scenery surrounded us. There were small villages nestled into the mountainsides. There's no way a picture can do it justice.

On the way down we had breakfast in Germany, lunch in Austria and dinner in Italy. This is the view we had while having lunch in Austria.

Lunch in Austria

Somewhere in Austria taking a break from the car. (I have no idea why Sam's missing a shoe)

This is not the best picture because we were driving, but it gives an idea of the houses scattered on the mountainsides.

By the time we made it to Mestre (the newer part of Venice which is not part of the islands) we had been travelling all day and had been in heavy traffic the last hour or two. Once again, I was so thankful for Tom-Tom navigating us right to the hotel. It was about 8:00pm and as we made our way to the hotel I was wondering what my friend, Marika, had gotten us into. It looked like a very shady part of town, an industrial area, and lots of seedy characters hanging out on the street corners. I was not very comfortable with the situation and our hotel ended up being right in the middle of it all. I had reservations about staying there after seeing the area it was in, but we decided to check it out.

It was very basic to say the least. Just one double and two twin beds and one very small bathroom with the smallest shower I've ever seen. Seriously, I think it was about as wide as Sam's shoulders. I still don't know how he or Dad managed to take a shower in it. But we figured all we needed was a place to sleep while we were there, so it would work. We were all hungry and decided to walk to a restaurant close by. We had to give our car keys to the man at the front desk because the parking area was so small that they had to have the keys in case they needed to move the car.

I honestly was very worried about our things being stolen. We couldn't leave anything in the car for safe keeping because they had the key, neither did I feel secure leaving anything in our room since they also, obviously, had a key to that. In the end, we decided things would probably be safer in the room, but we did our best to hide anything of value.

Mom standing in the world's smallest shower (notice the broken door)

We had many discussion on what we thought this extra little "toilet" was, but I'm pretty sure it was a bidet since I don't think it was intended for foot washing. Whatever it was - I steered clear of it.

We walked to a small cafe and had pizza. It was hot and we were all rather miserable. On our way back to the room we were approached by a man who may have just been friendly, but he made me want to hold on to my purse a little tighter. We were happy to drop into bed that night no matter how hard the mattresses were.

It's amazing how a night's sleep and sunlight can change your outlook in a situation. The next morning the sun was shining brightly and it looked so beautiful outside. After having a small continental breakfast at the hotel, we headed out to catch the bus to Venice. That was another interesting experience. We missed the first bus because we hesitated. People were crammed onto the bus and silly us - we thought we'd wait for the next bus because surely it wouldn't be so packed :) We finally caught on and decided when the next bus got there we would just cram on with everyone else. These Europeans know how to pack people on a bus. For the ride over to Venice we were all standing and I could barely even move my arms. We certainly felt like sardines.

Mom and Dad outside the Monte Piana hotel where we stayed

Me and Sam

Venice was truly amazing! Before our trip I really didn't understand that Venice is a cluster of small islands connected by bridges for the most part. There are water canals that run through the whole area and you walk everywhere because there's no room for roads. Boats ferries take you between all the islands. When we got off the bus we took a boat up through the Grand Canal. There were stops all along the way that we could get off at. Something interesting to see is everything being delivered by boat because there is no access for vehicles. Mail, laundry, furniture, groceries, trash pick up....everything. They even have emergency boats and police boats.

Furniture being delivered by boat.

Sam and I on the boat

The shoreline of San Marco Square

One of the many canals

Another canal with gondolas

We got off at San Marco Square and started our adventure. There was so much to see. So many little stores to shop in. It's definitely a tourist town. It was obvious that tourism is what their economy is based on.

Mom and Dad on the walkway from the boat

Me, Sam and Dad standing by a canal.

Feeding the pigeons in Piazza San Marco.

Mom absolutely loved this!

We took ferries to two other islands. Murano is known for their blown glass and Burano is known for their lace and doilies. At the end of the day we realized we had just touched the surface of Venice and needed about a week there to really take it all in. Once again, pictures just don't do it justice, but it's absolutely beautiful and unique.

Waiting for the next boat

Sam and I outside the glass blowing factory on Murano

Sam and I on a bridge in Murano

Canal in Murano

Sam and I on the boat after a long day in Venice

Well, that was our trip to Venice. It's a shame that pictures can't do it the justice it deserves. We'll definitly go back some day, but I think we'll stay for several days next time. There's so much more to see than what we had time for.

Garmisch, Eagle's Nest and the Gorge

(As you can see from the date on this blog, it was started some time ago and I just haven't had a chance to finish and post it. So, here it is....very late.)

One week from today Mom and Dad will be on their way back to Alaska and I miss them already. I hate goodbyes with my family. I wish there was a way to bring our two worlds together. It's more than having a couple of visits each year. It's the daily interaction that I miss.

We just got back home tonight from visiting Garmisch, Germany. We stayed at the Edelweiss Hotel which is an Armed Forces Recreation Center. It's an absolutely beautiful facility and the scenery in that area of Germany is amazing. Garmisch is surrounded on every side by the German Alps. The weather didn't totally cooperate with us, but we still had a wonderful time. On the way down Tuesday, we stopped by Dachau so Mom and Dad could visit the Concentration Camp Memorial Site. As before, it was a sobering experience. This time I had a chance to read more of the displays and found it very interesting and educational. It's frightening to me that humanity could sink to such levels and treat other humans in ways I could never even think of treating an animal. I'm sure it didn't start out that way, but slowly sank to lower and lower levels.

Mom, Dad and Sam at the entrance to Dachau

Sam, Me and Dad

Sam waiting patiently. Mom and Dad were taking the time to read the displays as we went through the museum part of Dachau. Sam had already seen Dachau and was hungry, so he wanted them to hurry up.

Mom and Dad with the foundations of the bunker houses behind them. The actual buildings were demolished, but they left markers where each building stood.

Me, Sam and Dad on the bridge leading to the crematorium

Mom and Dad with the gas chambers/crematorium in the background

From Dachau, we drove on down to Garmisch and checked into the Edelweiss. It always amazes me that I feel so exhausted from just travelling, but we arrived pretty tired. We were settled in our rooms by 8:00 and didn't do much else that evening besides eat dinner in one of the restaurants on site. I really enjoyed having a good American meal there. They even gave us ice in our drinks :)

Sam and I on the balcony at the Edelweiss

Wednesday we headed to Eagle's Nest in Berchtesgaden, Germany. It was so interesting because I learned a lot that I hadn't known. Prior to this trip, I didn't exactly know what it was, but had an idea that it was one of Hitler's homes and where he eventually committed suicide. What I found out though, was that it wasn't a home at all, but rather just a opulent tea room to impress dignitaries. It was given to Hitler as a 50th birthday present and he only went there about 14 times, due to his fear of heights.

Please excuse the poor quality of this picture. I took a picture of a picture. Due to the heavy fog the day we were there, this was the best I could do at getting a good view of Eagle's Nest.

The location of the Eagle's Nest is amazing. We drove up a steep mountain for quite awhile just to reach a parking lot where we got on a bus that took us further up the mountain to the Eagle's Nest. We were at about 6000 feet and it was so beautiful. We were hoping the fog would clear off so we could see the mountains surrounding us. It didn't, but was gorgeous just the same. We paid a small fee to have an English tour guide. It was money well spent. She did a great job of explaining the history and telling us some interesting tid bits.

Mom and Dad in the bus taking us to the Eagle's Nest

Me and Sam in the bus

All of us at the entrance to the tunnel which leads to the elevator that goes up through the mountain to the Eagle's Nest

Mom and Dad taking a break up the hill from the tea room

Having lunch in the dining hall of the Eagle's Nest

For those of you who know my parents - this is not what it appears to be. They were drinking Apfelsaftschorle, which is a mix of mineral water and apple juice, but it looked surprisingly like beer.

Sam and I sitting at the fireplace in the dining hall

On our way out, leaving through the tunnel

Waiting for the bus to take us back down the mountain

Whether at the concentration camp or Hitler's tea room it's always hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm standing in the same place history took place in. We ate lunch at the Eagle's Nest in the same room Hitler ate. Had food cooked in the original kitchen. It just doesn't really sink in.

Thursday instead of just heading the 3 hours back to Stuttgart we stayed around Garmisch for a little while. It's such a beautiful town. We walked through downtown and had breakfast at a little outside cafe.

Sam had heard about an Olympic ski jump that was used in the 1936 Olympics which were held in Garmisch. We went to see that then walked out to a beautiful gorge a mile or so behind the ski jump. There were cable cars available to take us all the way to the top. It was gorgeous from up there, but really scary to be so far above ground suspended by only a cable. It was pouring down the rain when we started to walk back to the car, but we had a fun walk regardless.

Mom and Dad took the first cable car up, so Sam and I were waiting for our ride

Mom and Dad waiting at the top for us

The view from the cable car

All ready for the wet walk back to the car

Somehow I skipped an entire week of activities, so I'll have to go backward and play catch up with future blogs. We've been so busy that I haven't kept up with blogging. We've taken lots of pictures so I had a hard time deciding on which ones to post.

This post is very late, but better late than never....right? Until next time...