The Black Forest

On the day I arrived in Germany, Chris took me first to drop of my luggage at the army lodging on the base we were staying and then immediately took me to another base to obtain an ID card to gain access to the bases. When we arrived at the ID and Pass office, despite Chris' phone calls and visits with them to prepare, we were told that they needed a copy of our marriage certificate! OOPS! At least Chris had planned ahead and scanned all of our documents and put them on his laptop! We had to leave that base and return to the base we were staying (30 minutes away) to get the laptop. We rushed back and arrived at the gate with just a few minutes to spare. When the guard asked for my ID, Chris explained that he had just signed me in earlier and that is why I was there- and that we went back to get a copy of our marriage certificate. Well, they opened the gate and flagged Chris through (or so we thought). We got my ID and as we left the building, there were LOTS of MP cars in front of the building! Lots of MPs were standing around our rental car. Chris went to the car to put his laptop in the trunk and see what was going on. When he approached the trunk, he was told very sternly to back away from the vehicle. They asked him if it was his rental car and he said yes. Well, come to find out, the German guard at the gate was brand new (his first day) and evidently his English was not that good. He had wanted Chris to pull in and sign me in again. When we drove through - they went on alert and considered him a gate runner. The MPs were very nice once they realized it was a misunderstanding, but it was quite an adventure for my first day. Welcome to Germany, huh?

There is so much to see in Germany. Many things were within a short drive from where we were staying. Our first trip while in Germany was to the Black Forest. We took an additional trip later – yep, we liked it that much! It is beautiful there, although I about froze to death on both trips! The snow was beautiful, so I guess that was worth the cold temps. We are really close to the Black forest – and it stretches out for miles and miles. We went cuckoo clock shopping while there. I have always wanted a cuckoo clock. What I had in mind was not exactly what Chris had in mind. I was thinking one of the little ones – but we bought one of the biggest clocks and two little houses to adorn the sides of the clock. It is truly amazing the work that goes in to these clocks. We also saw the biggest cuckoo clock in the world (actually there are two clocks that claim to be the biggest – the other is in the US – not sure which is actually the biggest).

Another place we enjoyed on a day trip was the Bavarian Alps and visits to King Ludwigs Castles. Again, we saw snow... and I loved it! Actually - it is snowing right this minute as I type this!

Below are some pictures from the Black Forest and Bavarian Alps.