Ski trip! or not...

With Justin having a four day weekend over New Years we decided we couldn't let the free time go to waste so we planned on going skiing in the Black Forest area. We had everything planned with a couple of other guys and went to go rent our equipment through the army outdoor recreation program. While there we got some information on hiking in the area, as it turns out there are numerous long hiking trails through the countryside all stemming from the town lake. We went to bed early in order to rest up for a day of skiing or in Justin's case snowboarding. Naturally when we woke up the entire trip fell through since the person with the car completely bailed.... So instead we decided to spend the day exploring the hiking trails. We got lost a few times, saw a few deer, got way to close to some wild boars bedding down and found an over-sized bench in the middle of the field. The trails were isolated enough that we let Riley off the leash for most of it and even found a couple of streams for him to play in. We all had a blast and can't wait to check out some of the other trails in the area. 

We came home just in time to rest up and open a bottle of wine before the firework shows started. Fireworks are legal within the city and as long as you do not bring them on to the base you can shoot them off wherever. The town went crazy and fireworks were going off in every direction! From our apartment we had the perfect view of the town and the entire sky lit up. They even shot off fireworks from the church steeple. It was the perfect way to bring in the New Years and hopefully we will get a chance to ski sometime soon! 

Happy New Years Everyone! 

Lichtenberg Castle

Germans apparently love their castles and according to my husband there are 13 castles in this area alone (I have not yet verified this "fact" so don't quote me). So while we were out in Ramstein with another couple the conversation turned to the must see sights in the area and they could not believe we had not been to any of the castles. Needless to say on the way back to Baumholder we took a slight detour to one of the more famous castle ruins in the area. The castle is known as the Lichtenberg castle, it was built in the 1200s and is the biggest castle ruin in Germany. During the late 1700's the castle was occupied by the French and while under French control the castle was plundered multiple times. In 1799 the castle was destroyed by a fire. In 1971 slight restoration was done on the castle roof and stable. Today the castle has a small restaurant and hostel as well as a church that still holds services.

 

Inside the castle ruins there are 3 small museums. One of them was a natural history museum with displays representing the local flora and fauna. Above the Natural History museum is a music museum with displays where you can hear real music from musicians local musicians throughout history. The last museum which we didn't go into is in a different part of the ruins and apparently fossils and rocks found in the area. 

The castle is only a 15 minute drive from our place so come visit! 

Frohe Weihnachten!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone! Justin had a four day weekend over Christmas and New Years so we were very fortunate that we were able to spend our first holidays together. Christmas Eve we attempted the challenge of making a "gingerbread" house out of broken graham crackers while we watched Gremlins (Justin claimed it was a christmas movie) and drank some hot Gluhwein.

The Gingerbread house complete with Riley creeping in the background

Christmas morning we woke up early and opened our stockings before heading over to our friends apartment for a delicious breakfast and present opening! Riley was very excited about his stocking and his new fish toy. 

Riley opening his stocking

After breakfast and a quick nap we headed over to another friends apartment to watch the Christmas parades and feast on an amazing meal! We left with very full stomaches and slowly walked up the four flights of stairs to our apartment. After another much needed nap we were able to Skype with some of our family members. It was the perfect ending to a great first Christmas together, even if the snow had all melted and I was wearing shorts the day before... I was so ready for my first white Christmas but apparently I brought the warm weather with me from Texas.

We missed everyone this holiday season and hope everyone had a great time!