CODE 21! - Mom and Steph Part 3

Little Layla's first swim

A couple of days of perfect weather and now once again it's raining... On the bright side Justin and I found a new great hang out spot and its the perfect place for Layla to learn how to swim! The town lake is finally open again and they put out a blob, floating dock and even made a beach. It is really relaxed, the water is cold but manageable and for the most part it isn't too crowded. The past couple of days, after wearing out the dogs, we have walked down to the lake and then of course grabbed a beer on our way back home. I think I might have even gotten a little tan... But enough about July, it's time for Part 3 of our June adventure!

Riley and I

She tries to keep us but Riley is too fast

After our amazing trip to Prague we arrived back in Baumholder around 5am thoroughly exhausted and  immediately climbed into bed for a long nap. A couple of hours later we awoke and took the quick drive down to Ramstein so I could show my family what a REAL military base looks like. We pull up to the gate and hand the Airforce dude our IDs, the "genius" gets all bent out of shape about my mom and sister's temporary ID cards and calls out "CODE 21!! CODE 21!!" He proceeded to close down the entire gate both directions, set out cones and escort us off of the Base... We went to the office and got everything sorted out, it turns out the guy was just an idiot and the ID cards were perfect so after he was reprimanded we drove to the gate AGAIN and this time were actually allowed to pass. OH the joys of military life... We shopped around in the mall and then grabbed a bite to eat before heading back home.

The next day we woke up early and set off on a long drive to Cologne. The drive was awful, it was rainy, lots of traffic and at least an hour of the drive was in construction. The city of Cologne itself was terrible to navigate and if it hadn't been for my Mom's GPS I doubt we would have made it to the famous Cologne Cathedral but luckily we did and it was completely worth the drive. The cathedral is incredible! Afterwards we braved the cold, rain and headed out for some great shopping. Cologne is famous for its shopping, boutiques, designer shops, everything you can imagine! I believe that we literally shopped till we dropped (or  until the shops closed) and then piled in the car for a late night drive home.

After a long day in Cologne we decided to hang out around Baumholder, drink wine and have a fantastic family dinner! It was the perfect rest day before heading out the Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Rothenburg is a well preserved medieval town. There is even a wall around the whole town! The town is the birth place of the famous christmas store Kathe Wolfart, there is even a christmas museum. It had tons of tourist shops and even a teddy bear store. We took a tour through the "Crime and Punishment" museum as well as the small cathedral that is said to house a shrine that contain a small amount of Jesus' blood from when he was crucified. The town was the perfect ending for Steph's last day in Germany!

Shrine with Jesus' blood

We left early the next day to see Steph off at the airport :( Afterwards my mom, Justin and I headed to Mainz. The town famous for Gutenberg. We wandered the town, peeking into churches, drinking wine and naturally visiting the local cathedral (I'm not sure if I will ever want to see another cathedral as long as I live after we leave Europe)... Unfortunately the Gutenberg museum was closed when we got there so we settled on a stroll along the Rhine.

For my Mom's last weekend in Germany Justin and I decided to take her to the cute town of Berkastel Kues. It is a wine town right on the Mosel river. We even took little Layla with us! We strolled along the shopping area, found a little wine bar and then finished off the evening with a traditional german meal and hike up to the castle ruins in order for a beautiful view of the sunset over the Mosel. The next day we headed down to Kaiserslautern to pick up Steve from the train station and planned our trip to Barcelona! It was so much fun having my family visit us in Germany and I am really glad they were able to come. Now its time to get back to real life and most of all start replenishing our savings account, traveling gets expensive!

Of course she gets to come into restaurants with us

She gets her own seat at the table at the wine bar

Mom and I 

Sunset over the Mosel 

Justin and I are down to our last four and half months of living in Germany so if anybody wants to visit y'all better do it soon!