Fun in Frankfurt

As my Dad would say, this weekend was a "good marble" weekend. We kicked it off on Friday with dinner at one of our favorite biergartens with Tommy, Melissa, and Lewis. Yes, I ate schnitzel yet again but I changed it up this time and got it with onions on top. Tasty! Over dinner, it was decided that we should hop on a train in the morning and just go somewhere...so we did.

We got Stella squared away with the neighbors for the day (we have the best neighbors in the whole world) but not before she swallowed a rock and scared me to death. After we were sure she was fine, we hopped on the trolley and headed to the main train station in Mainz. We had no idea how easy (or inexpensive) it would be to for all of us to get to there. We were at the main train station in Frankfurt in about 30 minutes, how awesome is that?

Frankfurt is the New York City of Germany - modern buildings, street vendors, great shopping, and lots of restaurants. However, it still has that German feel to it with the look of the townhomes and shops. We didn't really have an agenda other than "find food" because we were all starving. We left the station and just started walking; in about 30 minutes we stumbled upon a Mexican food restaurant. Jackpot! Sure, it was no Mi Cocina or Gloria's but they made decent enchiladas and the margarita's weren't half bad. After lunch we wanted to check out the Sachsenhausen area, the oldest district in Frankfurt that is full of clubs, restaurants, and bars. After being sent in the wrong direction TWICE, we finally found it. There were not many people there during the day but I can see how Sachsenhausen could be a lot of fun a night. I have no doubt we'll be going back.

One of the most amazing things we saw was the Kaiserdom (Frankfurt Cathedral). It is a midieval/gothic looking church and was one of the few things that was not demolished in WWII in this area. We also visited Römerberg Square, an area surrounded with half-timbered houses and shops and enjoyed some gelato.

There is so much more to see in Frankfurt (and I haven't even scratched the surface of the shopping possibilities in that town) so we will certainly be going back.

Stella's new favorite place - Our (rented) Nightstand

We spent Sunday relaxing and spending time with Stella. Brad threw the football around with one of our neighbors and we grilled out for dinner. So like I said, it was a good marble weekend!

Meet Stella!

The wait is over! We finally have our new puppy! Meet Stella, our baby black labrador.

How It Happened: I had been researching different breeders around Germany before we even moved and more once we arrived but didn't have much luck. I visited the local shelters and checked the classifieds daily but still nothing. I finally got lucky when I found an ad in the Stars and Stripes (the Armed Forces daily newspaper) advertising a puppy finders service. Checked out the website and it was exactly what I needed. I contacted the lady on Thursday evening describing what we were looking for and we had pictures of potential puppies on Saturday. We slept on it and decided a lab would be perfect. Fortunatley, they were ready to be adopted immediately, all we needed was an appointment with the breeders to pick her up. So we waited and waited to hear back from the puppy finder lady...then we waited some more. It was driving me crazy so Brad and I went to the store so we would be completely ready when we brought her home. We got back from the store, still nothing. I called and emailed again.....waiting, waiting, waiting. Watching my email inbox was about as exciting as watching grass grow. THEN, at 7:00 pm I finally get the call! She said we could pick her up on Monday....but we don't have a car yet and we could only borrow our friend's car that day. Soooooo, off we went to a town we'd never even heard of that was an hour and a half away. What did people do before GPS?

After a BEAUTIFUL drive north, we finally arrived just after 9:00. The breeders lived in a gorgeous home that had the perfect little room just for the puppies. When we walked in, this little black ball of fur came running towards us so excited like she knew that we were there to take her home. She slept in my lap all the way back to Mainz, perfect little angel.

Our First Night: When we got home she wasn't so sure about "going" outside and after 20 minutes, I gave up. We were exhausted so we put her in her bed in her crate...which lasted all of about 30 seconds before the howling and whining started. Sorry neighbors. We moved her bed into our room and she did just fine. I did learn, however, patience while she's outside is much better than the alternative. I'll leave it at that. It was a long night with little sleep but we made it through. (I'll be so glad when our stuff arrives, I'm really missing my coffee pot.)

Since Then: She sleeps quite a bit but when she's not sleeping she wants to be wherever I am...unless Brad is around, in which case she wants to be with him. The great news is she slept ALL the way through last night with zero accidents. We have a long way to go between the potty training and chewing but I know it'll all be worth it. She is the perfect little addition to our family!

Our New Life in Germany

Hello all! Brad and I have arrived in Germany and it is absolutely incredible! After a 9 1/2 hour (sleepless) plane ride from Dallas, we stepped foot in Frankfurt. The positive here - a direct flight IS available to/from DFW Airport, get excited folks! :)

We spent our first week staying at the Hotel zum Schnackel in Mainz Castel...pictures wouldn't do the Schnackel justice. When we were given the key for room 102, I was relieved as we had SIX pieces of luggage with us. Now, for those of you that have traveled to Europe, you know the first floor is typically whatever floor is above the ground level, something I had clearly forgotten. So after schlepping our bags up 3 flights of stairs, we stepped foot into our, uh, "room." To give you a glimpse of The Schnackel, here are a few of the pros and cons: Pro - We had a place to lay our tired heads. Con - We had two separate twin beds that were pushed together (and Brad ended up having an allergic reaction to the pillow). Pro - Breakfast was provided in the dining room every morning. Con - I'm not one for ham and cheese every morning. Pro - There was plenty of hot water, which is great news for me! Con - The shower was in a bathtub...with no door or curtain which meant lots of water on the floor. Oops. Pro - We had a TV that worked. Con - it was about a 10 inch TV on the opposite side of the room that had all German channels with the exception of an International CNN channel and MTV Germany that had some shows in English (ie Double Shot at Love With Bisexual Twins, Paris Hilton's New BFF, Rock of Love, etc). Pro: We thought ahead and bought an adapter that would fit in the 220 volt plugs which is exactly what the hotel had! Con: There is a difference between adapters and converters and without a converter, your 110 volt appliances will blow up. Fortunately, we figured this out prior to anything blowing up; however, I was not able to use a blow dryer or flat iron. My hair was rockin' for over a week. I'll pause while you get a visual.......................

We obviously survived and now we can look back at our stay at Hotel zum Schnackel and laugh. We are now in our apartment and getting used to the area. Our furniture and the rest of belongings should arrive sometime mid to late May but in the meantime, they've given us some furniture and kitchen supplies. Our friends, Tommy and Melissa, loaned us some bedding and I brought a few towels with us; it's the bare bones but it's certainly enough to get by.

From what we hear, this area had one of the worst winters they've had in decades this past year. In fact, they had a snow storm the week before we arrived. We must have brought good weather with us because it's been beautiful every single day. We've cooked out with Tommy and Melissa and their nephew, Luis, three times in the past week. If the winters are going to last a long six months, we're going to enjoy every day of sunlight we can get. We have a great walking/biking trail near the apartment that goes through an orchard...and with the amount of beer and schnitzel that we have consumed in the past two weeks, we're trying to utilize that as much as we can.

After some extensive research, we've narrowed down which camera we want and now it's just a matter of finding it or ordering it. Thus, pictures will be posted shortly. We're not certain where our first traveling adventure will be but I will keep everyone posted!