Now We Live In Wiesbaden

Oder, Wir wohnen in Wiesbaden. Always working on that Deutsch.

Hello! I have missed you! You may have noticed I haven't been around for awhile. Yeah, about that. Let me explain. No, is too long. Let me sum up. (Extra points if you can tell me what movie that is from in the comments!)

We move to Wiesbaden. 

I spend 2-3 weeks learning the roads and autobahns of Wiesbaden and nearby Mainz and Frankfurt. (I refuse to ever be lost in Germany again!)

I am asked to help run a girls youth church group that organizes activities and spiritual lessons. 

I say yes. 

September starts, and with it the most beautiful fall that I have ever seen. (Seriously, perfect. Cool temps, bright blue skies, vineyards and forests bursting with color everywhere. Had to be explored!)

My parents, brother, and his wife come to visit. Then they leave.

My other brother and his wife and cute toddler visit.

We go on an eleven day cruise to the Western Mediterranean. (More on that soon.)

Come home and it's Christmas time.

Brother leaves.

January- husband and children have recurring flu, strep, and colds run through them for three months.

Computer gets nasty adware and malware that makes it practically impossible to blog without 30 popups a minute.

I get flu that lasts three weeks.

Finally buy new computer. A Mac, I might add. I feel so yuppie.

So, now everybody is healthy. I have no more popups. And I think I have learned to manage my time better. So what time is it? It's time to blog again, my friends.

I live in Wiesbaden now. Wiesbaden in the capital of our new state, Hessen. I must admit, I love Wiesbaden. Like, really, really love Wiesbaden. It is nestled between the Taunus Mountains and the meeting of the Rhein and Main rivers. The countryside and hills around us are covered with forests and vineyards. Twenty kilometers east is big, bad Frankfurt. And 20 kilometers west is the start of the beautiful section of the river called the Romantic Rhein. Castles, vineyards. It is truly lovely. 

Let me show you a picture of downtown.

This picture was taken on a late August morning during the farmer's market that takes place every Wednesday and Saturday.

How cute is that?

They sell flowers, fruit, vegetables, and baked goods. I'll take one of everything, please!

Here are my boys and our doggie, Minkie in front of the city square, or Schloßplatz. That impressive red building is the Marktkirche, or market church. It is the main Protestant church in Wiesbaden and was finished in 1862.

Here it is soaring over the Altstadt of Wiesbaden.

Here is one of my favorite buildings in Wiesbaden. Der Eimer, or the bucket. This is a little bar in downtown Wiesbaden. I'm not sure why it's crooked, but the story goes that when they built this little bar they forgot to put in toilets. To rectify the problem, they put a bucket (for you know what) in each corner. Hence the name, the bucket. Or more aptly named, the buckets. 

Here are die Kinder standing in front of what is left of the Roman fortification that was here between 121 AD and 486 AD. This wall is called the Heidenmauer, or heathen's wall. The Romans built it around to 364 to keep out all the Germanic tribes, or heathens for lack of a better word. Imagine it, heathens roaming freely around Europe. How exciting!

There are some Roman artifacts around the remnant of the Heidenmauer.

I think we are going to be very happy in this beautiful city.

After all, there is some of the best Spaghetti Eis we've ever had here. What is Spaghetti Eis? It is vanilla ice cream dispensed in long noodle shapes, toped by red, strawberry sauce, and finished off with grated white chocolate chips. All made to look like noodles topped with red spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese. It is so good. Come to Wiesbaden and I'll buy you some!

Tchüss,

Kelly

PS - I am going to try really hard to keep my blog updated. I have so much to tell you! Castles, cruises, Africa, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Croatia, maybe more moves! Stay tuned! 

PPS - Feel free to email me (some of you did!) and call me out on my laziness in keeping my blog updated. It helped! 

Another Move - Heidelberg To Wiesbaden

Sorry that I haven't been writing much lately. It's not because of my usual excuse which is I have been traveling too much. It's because we moved. Again. If you are thinking that we just got settled in Heidelberg, you're right. We had only lived in Heidelberg for 11 months when we had to trek the 90 kilometers north to Wiesbaden. Even by Army standards, that is a quick. We moved (and all of the US Army in Heidelberg) back in July, but we are just starting to feel settled.

I didn't feel settled for awhile because we got to do this. Again.

And this. Again.

Actually, we didn't do it. The very efficient and kind German moving company did all this.

We just watched. And some of us did less than watch. Some of us napped.

After all the packing and such, we moved here.

And it looks pretty much the same as where we lived in Heidelberg (more lovely Army housing). And then we got to unpack. Again.

We didn't choose to do this. No sane person would choose to move twice in 11 months. The whole reason for the move is that some Burgermeister (mayor) and some Army general didn't see eye-to-eye about where to build some airstrip in Heidelberg. I think it went kind of like this.

General - "I think you should let me block off a road and build an airstrip here."
Burgermeister - "No. I zhink zhat you should do vhat I say and build it over here."
General - "No. I want it here."
Burgermeister - "Too bad. I don't."
General - "Well, maybe the US Army should just leave Heidelberg."
Burgermeister - "Vhat do you mean maybe?"
General - "Oh no you didn't!"
Burgermeister - "Yes! I did!"
General - "Okay, then we'll go!"
Burgermeister - "So go!"
General - "I am!"
Burgermeister - "Good!"
General - "Bye!"
Burgermeister - "Double bye!"

From what I hear, that is pretty close to how it went down. And the crazy thing is, is that neither the Burgermeister nor the general were working with the city of Heidelberg at the time the close down happened. They had both been moved to other positions. But because of the wheels set in motion by these two masters of diplomacy, the American Army left Heidelberg after being there for 66 years. My husband used to work in a building where Nazi troops were headquartered and stationed. (Read more about that HERE.) It is the end of an era.

The move also means that these four kids here had to start at a new school today. Again.

  It also means meeting new people and making new friends. Again. And that is an again that I want to say. Every where we have lived we have met amazing people who have become friends, and then more than friends. They've become like family. Let's hope that we are as lucky in Wiesbaden as we've been everywhere else.

Until the next move, Army.

 

Have you had to move a lot? What are tips and secrets you have used to get you through a move?