Burg Nanstein Castle - Landstuhl, Germany

Saturday we got our first chance to do some sight seeing off base in nearby Landstuhl. We bought a new European GPS and took off. Okay, actually we followed some friends but still, the GPS was hooked up. That counts, right? We followed our "guides"  into this village and up around these teeny tiny hairpin backroads to this castle overlooking the village below. My first thought...we HAVE to get a smaller car because these roads are TIGHT! My second thought...Europeans drive like maniacs! Before we knew it, we were pulling into a lot and the castle was right in front of us. No signs. It was just there.  Cody and Sam did their best as our tour guides describing what rooms were dungeons, where the knights lived, and what tower the archers aimed their bow and arrows from. I, myself imagined the tower that the princess lived in. *smile*

Just makes me anxious to see and explore the "Disney" Neuschwanstein Castle.

                                                        Making our way thru the village

                                                                roads are pretty tight

                                                           Landstuhl Village below

                                                                             ruins

                                                    part of the castle was built into the rock

                                                         refurbished guardrails of course

                                            during festivals, plays and musicals are staged here

                                                                   in the "dungeon"

                                                          lots of spiral steps thoughout

                                                                     on top of the castle

                                                              A little background info:
Burg Nanstein is a castle in Landstuhl, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
It was built around the year 1162 after Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I demanded its construction as additional defense for the Palatinate.^[1]
In 1504, German knight Franz von Sickingen, inherited part of the castle after his father's death in the War of the Bavarian Succession, finally acquiring the entire castle in 1518. He immediately began extensive refortification to make the castle suitable for firearms.
Nanstein is well-known for an elaborate siege during the Knight's Revolt in 1523 which claimed the life of von Sickingen. The fall of Nanstein was a symbol for the decline of castles in the Palatinate.
In 1542, von Sickingen's sons recovered Nanstein as a fief and started reconstruction of the castle. Reinhard von Sickingen completed the reconstruction in 1595. In 1668, Elector Charles I Louis forced Lotharingian troops from the castle and razed the fortifications.
In the 19th century the first conservation work was done on Nanstein, and this has continued to the present day

Willkommen in Deutschland!

Welcome to Germany! We landed at Ramstein AB Monday afternoon to a welcoming party, my husband's executive aide and a few others. They helped us load all 8 suitcases, dog kennel, and backpacks up and drove us over to what will be our new home for the next 2-3 years. We were lucky enough to have a house ready and not have to stay in temporary housing until one became available. Our house has temporary furniture (think tacky hotel furniture) until our personal belongings arrive via ship. Should be sometime by the end of August. I love this house. Everything is so modern . I will have to take pics of some of the neat things inside the house.  We sold our other vehicle back in NC so we will be looking for a "beater car" while here. The Jeep is being shipped as well. Wayne passed the German Driver's license test yesterday so he can drive us around in a borrowed beater that the last Command Chief left. My test is Monday. They say 60% fail it the first try. Oh my!

Basically we have only been around the base here because we had limited transportation. Hopefully this weekend we can get out and explore off base. Ramstien AB is huge! Lots of traffic circles and a huge BX ( shopping center) I have been there 3 times already getting necessities for the house.

We are still pretty jet lagged from the trip. My body has no idea what time of day it is. Cody slept for 17 hours yesterday. Even our dog is confused.

Thank goodness for these rolling shutters on the windows. They are pretty awesome. It stays light here until around 10:00PM and the sun comes up around 5:30ish AM. My first morning waking up I thought someone had left the light on it was so bright!

I will try and post pics as soon as I learn how. Ha!We do have internet and cable up and ready. We bought a phone last night for our landline but I don't know how to set it up. It is in German and I can't figure out the English directions. Go figure. I am used to doing everything via iPhone, so sitting here at the computer is driving me crazy. It is really limiting my Facebook time though. That is a good thing!

Enough for now, hopefully this post makes sense. I am on my second pot of coffee and still feel like crap.  I have to go and get all gussied up for our first official Command Chief function tonight. It's a formal and I have been busy all day steaming my gown and Wayne's Mess Dress. I have to say that the first impression of the new Command Chief's wife will not be pretty...puffy eyes, puffy waistline and all! Sorry hun! Here we go!

More later...

Let the checklist begin....

Monday, March 28 2011

Let the checklist begin

All this weekend , in between soccer games, birthday parties, church and small group, we did some research about the place we will call home for the next few years. It looks pretty neat and I am getting excited.

We received emails from our sponsor who is actually the Command Chief and his wife. We also got an introduction to Wayne’s executive aide. She sent us pics of the house we will be living in on base. I had a bit of culture shock when I saw the pics, but now that I have seen the house with her things inside, I feel a lot better. I will have  to leave behind most of our furniture and put it in storage. There is a weight limit. That’s okay, it will just make more space for all the German furniture we may have to purchase. *smile*

I have to tell a funny. In the list of things to bring. We were told to bring a nice sturdy snow shovel. Okay…we are in Texas and it is almost summer. That might be a hard item to find.

Our journey continues...

Thursday March 24, 2011

Today Wayne sent me a text telling me I might want to pick up Rosetta Stone (you know, the foreign language CDs?) while I was out running errands. I knew something was up so I rushed on home and found him waiting for me grinning from ear to ear. He had some news. He got a phone call from the Commander of the 435^th AGOW at Ramstein  Air Base, Germany! He wanted Wayne to be his Command Chief. Wow! What an honor for my husband! Wow! What an awesome place to go live! Wow! What a great place for opportunities to travel all around Europe! Wow! What a great place for the boys! Wow! Wait…the boys. Seth…then it hit me. Oh wow.

What would we do about Seth? He still has 2 more years of college and he doesn’t want to leave UTSA. How could I travel to another country and live for 2-3 years without our firstborn?  Certainly he would be lost without us? Certainly I would be lost without him? I sank down on the floor and just cried.  It was then that I had to remember that he would be turning 21 this year. He has a life here in Texas. He is making his way. I couldn’t stomp my feet and make him come with us. I wanted to though. I thought about it. Alot. Oh yes I did.

We called our parents with our news and they seemed very happy for us. I know they can’t stand the thought of us being further away but I know they are so excited for the adventure we will have. Cody and Sam are excited too. Sam wants to see snow and castles and Cody is ready for a change. Plus, the girl he likes is also moving to Ramstein. Uh yeah, that is probably the only reason for him at the moment. Seth thought it was crazy news! He can’t wait to come over on breaks from school. I tried to bribe him to just move with us and go to school over there. He wasn’t buying it. Darn, he would have been so helpful since he speaks German. I would have had a translator!

Later that day, I had to go finish my errands and pulled into the commissary parking lot. I turned off the engine and sat there. All of a sudden I couldn’t move. I couldn’t make myself get out of the vehicle. I just sat there in a daze. I am moving to Germany. 28 minutes later, who do I call? My mom. I just burst into tears. She just listened, and listened, and listened.  She set me straight and made me think of all the positives. I got out of that vehicle with a new outlook and went about my grocery shopping . I did however avoid the German food aisle. Just to deter another meltdown.

While I am talking about my meltdowns, which occurred pretty steady over the next few days, I just want to say thank you to all my friends and family that listened to me laugh and cry all in one breath. Thank God, I have so many optimists in my life.

A little background to this note: Wayne was picked up for the Command Chief list a few months ago and had done several interviews. We had no idea if he would be picked up or if we would be in Texas for another year.  We had been praying that God would place us where he needed us to be. Sure we had our opinions, but ultimately put our future in His hands.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11