Our First Week in Germany

Our first week was very eventful! We got here on May 12th and we checked into the Kristall Inn after a short brief on Camp Grafenwoehr. After arriving at the Kristall Inn and checking in, we found out that we were placed in a room that did not have a kitchenette. That was kind of saddening. However, we were very happy to finally be in Germany!!!

So with PCS'ing comes lots of work! We sold our car right before we left AZ, so we of course had no vehicle! That meant walking EVERYWHERE!!! Luckily, everything is pretty close here on Camp Vilseck! So getting here on a Thursday allowed Mike to not have to report until Monday! Friday we walked up to the commissary to get some groceries and got settled in our hotel room. (we took a nap too.......because I got up at 2 AM) Saturday was the day that we actually left post and traveled into the village of Vilseck, Germany! We took our first taxi ride in Germany!

We had the taxi drop us off at the castle in Vilseck! Burg Dagestein was first constructed in the 12th century but due to many tragedies throughout the hundreds of years most of the buildings still standing were constructed in later years. While we were unable to tour the castle because it was closed.......we got to see the outside (and one room inside because we met a SUPER nice lady that let us look!). The castle now is used for exhibition of art and has become a center of regional social and cultural life. You can hold meetings, weddings, conferences, and ceremonies at the castle (and they even provide catering if you wish).

After the castle, we walked down to the main streets in Vilseck. We found a few shops, restaurants, and even a super cute bakery! Of course we had to stop at the bakery and grab a mini baguette and a treat. After the bakery, it began to rain a little......however.....it was lunch time so we stopped not far away from the bakery to grab lunch at Alexander Griechisches Restaurant. We were able to have such an AMAZING meal and an even better waiter (whom I believe to have been the owner)! We will definitely be going there again! This restaurant served food from Greece and they even had napkins that give you a little intro to the language!

After lunch, we had to stop by the grocery store in Vilseck because we wanted to grab some alcohol. Bourbon to be exact. For those of you that are not aware, we are unable to get alcohol on the military installation without a rations card and we were unable to obtain ours prior to the weekend. We had the taxi pick us up at the grocery store and take us back to the hotel on post. On Sunday, we decided to head to the theater on post. We saw Captain America: Civil War.....AMAZING movie!  Monday started Mike's in-processing.....which lasted the rest of the week. While he was doing that I was able to get the kids registered in school and CYSS (child, youth, and school services). We got our German bank account AND set up and got German cell phones. All in all, week one was a success.....Onto week 2......

Our Trip to Germany

So as most of you know we PCS'ed here from Fort Drum, New York. We were very excited when we found out that we were going to Germany. So before we headed to Germany, my husband took his pre-pcs leave for 30 days. We had quite the adventure! We started out by driving to MI to visit family that we have there. We had a blast!

We were in Michigan for about 5 days and got to see a lot of family and friends. Then we headed to Colorado where we met up with my in-laws at a friend of their's house. We spent a night in Denver before heading to Moab, Utah. My daughter, Faith, was born in Moab, Utah and her birthday happens to be April 20, 2006. We got to Moab, Utah on April 19th and stayed the night at the Inca Inn Motel there. She got to wake up in the city she was born in on her 10th birthday!

We got the chance to explore Arches National Park in Moab for a few hours and hiked up to Delicate Arch! Then, we headed south for my in-laws house in Pheonix, AZ. We stayed in Pheonix for about a week and a half. While we were there we (yes, both kids did it) did two different hikes. The Daisy mountain trail (7 miles!) and the Black Canyon City trail (6 miles!). Oh and while we were in AZ we decided to take a spur of the moment trip to Las Vegas, Nevada!!! Mike had never been to a casino and what better place to go for your first time??!!?!

On May 2, we picked up our rental car and started our journey back to Syracuse to fly out. When we first left Phoenix, we stopped in Winslow, AZ.......stood on the corner.......it was such a fine sight to see (LOL). On our way back to Syracuse we were lucky enough to meet up with some other Army friends, in Oklahoma City, from when we were stationed at Fort Hood, TX. We also got to check out the Oklahoma City Zoo (keep in mind that I am obsessed with zoos, so you will see many more zoo trips in our family's future posts).

We got to Syracuse on May 7th and flew out of Syracuse Hancock International Airport on May 9th. Our flight was scheduled to depart around 11:30 AM on the 9th so we got there around 8 AM to return our car and make sure we had plenty of time to get through security. That flight went off without a hitch! We were supposed to land in Philadelphia at 12:50 PM but we didn't actually get there until around 1:25 PM; which was a problem because our flight from Philadelphia to Baltimore left at 1:45 PM! So we ran to the gate and made it just in time! We landed in Baltimore, Maryland around 2:30 PM. At this point, we had to collect our checked luggage and head to the AMC check in lines for our military flight to Germany. Our flight from Baltimore to Ramstein, Germany was set to leave around 12:30 AM on May 10th, but our check-in time started at 6:00 PM on May 9th. So we got in line for check-in around 4 PM. We waited until 6:15 PM when they started the check-in process. We got up to the counter and had out our passports, id's, and orders and were ready to check-in.......until they told us that because our daughter didn't have her military ID she was not permitted to board the plane! (For those of you that are not military.....once a child turns 10 years old they are able to get their own military ID. However, as you read earlier, Faith had just turned 10 a couple weeks prior, while we were on leave. ALSO, know that Mike, my husband, asked while out-processing and they told him it would be fine and we could just get her ID as soon as we got to Germany.) So we couldn't leave for Germany until Faith got her ID!

At this point, I was beyond frustrated. We ended up calling a cab and having them take us to Fort Meade in Maryland. At this point, the ID office was obviously closed and so we had to stay the night on post at the IHG hotel on post. I tried to make an appointment at the ID office online but couldn't find the link to make it. So I called first thing in the morning to make an appointment and the lady told me that they were completely booked for that day. In fact, their next appointment wasn't until May 19th! However, she told me that we could come in and wait as a walk-in and hope to get seen. SO......without a car we had to rely on the hotel shuttle to get us to the office and the shuttle driver didn't get in until 8 AM. While waiting for the shuttle, the front desk clerk, Mary, was telling another member of the staff, Brenda, about our dilemma. Brenda proceeded to take down my name and phone number and my husbands name and told me she would see what she could do to help us. We left on the shuttle for the ID office, when we got there Brenda called and told us that she had talked to someone that she knew and all we had to do was go in and ask for a Mr. Lee. That we did and we got her ID within about 1 hour. I am so thankful and appreciative for the friendliness and help of the staff at the Candlewood Suites on Fort Meade, Maryland! Once we got her ID and got back to the hotel we had a lot of time before our 9 PM check-in time at the airport that night......so, we headed to the bowling alley on post. We played a few games and then around 4 had a taxi drive us to the Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Thankfully, Kevin at the Check-in counter told us the night before that we didn't have to wait in line this night and just to come up to the counter and he would check us in first. However, arriving there around 4:30 PM meant a long wait until 9 PM.

Finally around 9 PM we were able to check-in to our flight! Everything went smoothly this time and we got checked in. Our flight didn't leave BWI until 3:00 AM though so we had to wait around until 2:00 AM to board the plane. Once we boarded we were happy to realize that Kevin did us another favor! He put us on the top floor of the plane (YES! Our plane had two floors!!!) which had no other children! So we got a very quiet and serene flight! Our flight was 7 hours 13 minutes long and we arrived in Ramstein, Germany around 5:00 PM local time. We had plenty of paper work, briefs, and customs to go through before we were taken to our hotel for the night (Barbarasso Hof Hotel) in Ramstein. The hotel had a restaurant in it and it was absolutely beautiful.

We got to have our first German meal that night! I got Jagersnitzel! It was delicious. We got our first taste of authentic German breakfast the next morning as well; which consisted of sliced meats, cheeses, coffees, teas, jams, fruits, breads, juices, and water. I have to say......I love German breakfast! From there, we got on a bus to head to Vilseck! We loaded the bus at 8:30 AM and left the hotel around 9:00 AM. We arrived in Grafenwoehr around 4:00 PM and met up with our sponsor and did our briefs on post before our sponsor transported us to the Kristall Inn on Vilseck. We finally got checked in and into our room around 6:00 PM.

The Kristall Inn is nice! We like it here and the staff have been very nice! The breakfast is absolutely amazing as far as continental breakfasts go. We haven't gotten to do much exploring as we just arrived the day before yesterday but we did check out a few buildings on Graf, the PX and Commissary on Vilseck, and got the paper work to enroll the kids in school! We even ordered pizza from a local pizzeria last night for dinner (unfortunately we do NOT have a stove/oven in our room here and we only have a small "dorm room" fridge). Then today, we took our first taxi ride into the village of Vilseck, Germany. We checked out the local castle here (Castle Dagestein) but it was one that you are not allowed to really go into and explore. However, the lady did allow us to go into one room of the castle and look. The castle really was fairly small and seemed to have been made more modernized for offices and such. So then we headed down into the village a little further on Marktplatz and found a cute little bakery where we grabbed a croissant filled with a nut paste (yeah I don't know the name of it.....I will do better next time!) and a small baguette! They were so good! After the bakery, it began to rain a little but it was lunch time and so we headed to a local family owned restaurant called Alexander's Greek Restaurant. OMGoodness.....I cannot put into words how amazing the food and service was! We ordered and the waiter (whom I believe was the owner) told us that next time we come Mike should try number 77 and I should try number 83, so we changed our orders, not knowing what those order numbers were, and just went with what he suggested! I am so glad that we did! Our food was amazing! (I forgot to take pictures prior to when we started eating). This is what we ended up with:

Mike got (the first pic) Pita-Gyros in Rahmsauce mit Kase uberbacken, Pommes und salat (gyros au gratin in cream sauce with fries and a side salad). I got Hahnchenbrustfilet in Weinsauce mit kretanischen Kartoffein und Salat (Chicken filet in wine sauce with cretan potatoes and a side salad). Mike also ordered a beer and I ordered a wine spritzer. Then the waiter brought us each another special drink on the house......a shot of Ouzo for Mike and a sample of his own homemade wine for me! Mike said that the Ouzo was VERY strong but the wine was probably the BEST wine that I have ever had!

Needless to say, we may have had some struggles getting here but Germany is absolutely AMAZING so far!! We can't wait to get our USAREUR (European Driver's License) and get a car so we can start exploring further from here! Keep an eye out for more posts to come! Our adventures have just begun!