Neuschwanstein

Had the chance to travel to Fussen and see Neuschwanstein Castle today. Here is the link to the Facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066295&id=1265812763&l=80d8a1ec3d

The weather was incredible and I had awesome company. It was a lovely trip!

Oberammergau Passion Play 2010

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2062642&id=1265812763&l=47887de924

Pictures from my trip yesterday to Oberammergau for the Passion Play. It was INCREDIBLE!!!!

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,694970,00.html

Link to a great article about the Oberammergau Passion Play, which as occured every 10 years since the 1600s. Check out the slideshow for some pictures from the performance. (We couldn't take pictures durin the show.)

Two more picture links!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059853&id=1265812763&l=d1fedcedc1
Pictures from our road trip to Triberg, in the Black Forest, last week.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059850&id=1265812763&l=65bbc485cc
Pictures from our trip to Ramstein and our old stomping grounds.

Enjoy!

Italy Spring Break 2010

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059779&id=1265812763&l=eb1753e353

Here is my Facebook album of pictures from our Spring Break trip to Italy.

My mom and dad flew in on Friday and we left for Italy on Saturday. We got home at 4am on Friday morning. It was amazing!

Mom and Dad were supposed to fly home on Sunday, but the volcano ash shut down the airports. They tried again Tuesday, but that flight was cancelled as well. They left yesterday and arrived home safely.

I have another batch of pictures to post from our trips to Ramstein and the Black Forest. I will post links here.

Sorry for being the world's worst blogger. Things have been so crazy with travel and school and the play. The show opens Thursday! I'll post some pics of that, as well!

More snow

Last week showed some signs of spring... temperatures got up into the upper 50s and there was some lovely sunshine. And then some crazy windy days. And this morning I woke up to several inches of snow. Throughout the day, there was a little bit of everything. Snow, sunshine, more snow, cloudiness. Spring weather is certainly unpredictable here. I had plans to go out for dinner and socializing tonight, but decided to stay in and off of the roads. So I might try to get some more work done around the house (got my desktop hooked up today and did some re-arranging in the computer room, but still have more work to do!) and may try to get more done after dinner, or I might just put in a movie and snuggle up under some blankets on the couch. I definitely need to get serious about getting some guest furniture set up. My parents will be here in a month! Looking forward to a mini-reunion of some high school friends at the end of the month. Things are good. Nothing too exciting to report. Just hunkered down in the safe, warm house for the evening! :)

Back to the Old 'Hood

A new friend and I made the trip up to Ramstein yesterday. Ramstein is where I lived in '97-'98, when I lived here before. It is about two hours north of here. We left around 9am Saturday and spent the day shopping, eating, and driving around the base to see how much it had changed in 12 years. They have a big mall on base now, with a Food Court, complete with several American fast food chains. (Taco Bell, Subway, plus a ton of AAFES favorites like Anthony's Pizza and Frank's Franks.) They also have a Macaroni Grill and multiplex movie theater upstairs. Quite different from back in the day when we had to "rough it." :) There's a Chili's on base now, although it isn't in the mall. We went to Chili's for lunch and I enjoyed a Buffalo Chicken Salad, just like at home! Yay! It was lovely! It was neat to drive around the base and go by the high school. I look forward to going back on a school day to see the teachers who are still there. The next trip, I plan to spend some time off-base, in some of the villages in the area that used to be our old stomping grounds. Fun!

Germans and shoveling

It's German law that you shovel the snow out of your walkway. They take it very seriously. If someone slips on your sidewalk, they can sue you. I have been unable to find a snow shovel, so I've been counting on the generosity of my neighbors to shovel my bit of the sidewalk in front of our row. I'm sure it's starting to get on their nerves, but they haven't said anything yet. So when it snows, you see the Germans out shoveling like mad. Yesterday when I was driving home, I saw several small children all bundled up, shoveling along with a toy shovel with Mom and Dad. They start them pretty young, so it is totally part of being German. Shovel, shovel, shovel! I got some salt to throw down. It just keeps snowing! Seems like a losing battle to me! :)