We arrived in Germany on Tuesday 8/19, 11:10am. The trip was good but neither of us slept on the 9 hour flight from Dallas so we were just a tad bit tired when we arrived but the excitement of where we were and the things we had to do to get started, kept us awake and moving. The latter included filling out papers for the rental car, buying a map to help us verify Garmin and buying the SIM card for Jim’s cell phone.

Next step, conquering the Autoban which actually went very well until we arrived at what we thought was a short construction lane shift. Unfortunately, it took us past the exit intended to get us on another Autoban towards Wolfstein. Garmin then took us off the Autoban and onto country roads! Uh Oh! Dear Garmin – please know where you are going because Fran is navigating with the map and she isn’t quite sure where we are much less where we need to be.

So now Fran, the multitasker: check map; compare to Garmin; look at the gorgeous  scenery; take photos with iPad! Did it all with nerves left over to continue the road trip. Venturing off the Autoban turned out to be awesome because we went through some beautiful countryside, including many vineyards, and many little towns which gave us an idea of what Germany is really like. We loved it! Have to remember Chad’s comment: mom – dad – everything is an adventure so just go with the flow. Thanks Chad but we didn’t expect the adventure to start on day 1. So now when I get anxious I just say to myself – what would Chad do and go from there!!

Arrived at our hotel around 3pm to find it closed until 5pm so we walked all around the town which was fun and that kept us awake. Finally checked in, showered and went down for dinner. When in Germany – eat as the Germans do! Jim had Holzfäller Steak with potatoes and Fran had Ramschnitzle (thick sliced Pork) & Spätzle. Both were delicious and of course filled our bellies.

Went to our room and tried to keep our eyes open until at least 9pm but gave up the ghost at 8:30. We woke up at 1am. What does one do at 1am? Gets on the computer and emails her children and bores them to death with tales including every little detail of the day which will probably help them sleep.

Our first day awake is much better. After breakfast we drove to Santz Julian, the town where Jim’s family lived in the 1600’s before migrating to the U.S. in 1734. A beautiful little town and below is the church where his family went and where the Altmus name is recorded in 1620.

What we love about Germany is the fact that the Germans are remodeling the buildings and homes, fixing up the facades but not changing their *look* and they are doing a beautiful job. Unlike the U.S. where we tend to knock things down and rebuild!

The weather is not quite as warm as we’d have wanted – probably in the 50-60’s during the day and nice if you are in the sun, which is out for part of the day then the clouds roll in and we are both cold! Been layering but still chilly. Fortunately our room is nice and warm!

Went to the Reckweiler hotel for dinner on August 20 – Happy Birthday Chad!

Jim had pork and spaetzles – fabulous!

Fran’s dinner: Sausage, Mashed Potatoes, Sauerkraut – mmmm mmmmm!

That’s it for tonight folks!

Thursday 8/21 Our last evening in Wolfstein, Germany

Our day began with a road trip to Burg (castle) Lichtenberg which now hosts both the Musikantenland Museum and Geoskop Urweltmuseum (a geological museum and research lab.) This region, the western Palatinate, is well known as having a long tradition of musicians. The castle also hosts a junior musicians youth hostel and conducts music workshops.

On the drive through the countryside to Burg Lichtenberg, we were on narrow winding roads through the countryside and narrow winding roads through the country towns. Again there was much renovating of old homes. The towns were all neat and very pretty and it was nice to see so many flowers neatly arranged on the houses and in the manicured gardens.

Here is a shot of the castle from the town below. As you can see it’s pretty high up the mountain so it’s going to have a fabulous view.

I just had to take some photos of the instruments and the mannequins playing the instruments. The one thing that would have really enhanced this museum, would have been piped in music so you really had the feeling of what it must have been like all those years ago. Here are a few photos taken inside the museum.

Once outside, Jim and I climbed up the castle keep tower for the most amazing view of the entire area.

Once we finished nearly two hours at the castle, we decided to go into the town below, Kusel, and grab a bite to eat. There was not much around so we found a store that had fresh produce and since I saw a few comments with concerns about our eating habits over here, mainly meat and potato type dishes, we figured we’d lighten it up a bit and bought some cheese, bread and fruit and boy did that do the trick. They had some gorgeous figs so I bought them. They were not quite what we were used to in flavor or juice but they were flavorful. The peaches were tasty but again not very juicy, but hey, it was fruit and that is good!

Another sign that caught my attention and made me chuckle! This is actually a bank!

The ride home was eventful to say the least. As I mentioned earlier, the roads are narrow and winding so as the passenger, my foot was on the brake much of the time. I knew that both Jim’s mom and my mom would have been none too thrilled with this ride.

We drove to Kaiserslautern after lunch, more a city than a country town so didn’t stop. However, getting out of Kaiserslautern was an adventure: trying to maneuver the roads and follow the Garmin. Well we ended up getting the poor Garmin all confused – did you ever see the car icon on a Garmin when it doesn’t have a clue what the driver is doing? It spins and turns and we were like – what the hell!  Jim was driving in Kaiserslautern and ventured on to a really narrow road with cars parked lining the left side of the street aimed towards us. Since Garmin didn’t seem to have a clue, I said go ahead — let’s take it. Well it was a one way street and we were going the wrong way! The guy who was intending to come down the street quickly backed up and we continued on our merry way and finally got to a street where the poor little Garmin car could stop spinning and take us the rest of the way home!  Needless to say I found this extremely funny and could not stop laughing! Believe it or not, I did not get fired as the assistant Garmin navigator; Jim had a great sense of humor today! Thanks honey!

Came home, rested a bit and went to dinner. Sorry folks – no photos tonight! Yeah more meat but with pasta / späetzle’s. We are both done with meat for a while and ready for some very fresh fish in Italy and some nice light pasta.

Off to Frankfurt tomorrow and on to Milan Saturday via a train through the Swiss Alps! This is going to be awesome!

Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland!  (good bye Germany)