Living the German Dream

Some of you may already know the news from Facebook, but I wanted to share the full story.

A couple days ago, my Sponsor, Katie was driving us back to our hotel room from running some errands on post.  On the way back, she wanted to stop and check out an M3 sitting in front of the BMW dealership.  Being BMW fans ourselves, we clamored to accompany her.

We looked at the cars on the lot and then accompanied Katie while she spoke with the head salesman. That's when we found out BMW offers their cars to US military members for 15% off.  And I could get an insanely low interest rate.

Let me back up for a minute here.  Ever since I first saw one on display at the mall in Colorado Springs, I've wanted a BMW M3 more than any other car.  As for Sharay, she got to drive one for a little while and would love to have one again.

Unfortunately, BMW is going to stop making M3s with a V8 engine this August and will return to an inline 6.  Well, we didn't want an inline 6.  Plus, the V8 version is pretty much perfected.  We didn't want to get the new model before all the kinks have been worked out.  Finally, the M3 only came with a V8 in the current model, so it's going to become a limited edition quite soon.  If we wanted one, it was now or never.

However, we weren't the ones there to get a car.  Instead we listened to the details while Katie looked at the dealer's available M3s (she ended up getting one).  We expressed some interest, but didn't really say anything.  When we returned to our room, I crunched the numbers on our budget and determined that if we traded in our 328i, we'd be able to afford it.

The next day, after returning from my trip to Amberg, I linked up with Sharay and we walked to the BMW dealership.  We expressed our interest and looked at the available M3s.  None of them had the options we wanted.  We talked about ordering one to our specs directly from the factory, but production on the 2011 V8s ends in August and we were too late.  Luckily, the dealership had a few already on order, and they could make changes to match what we wanted.

We slept on it for another night to double check the budget and make a final decision on the options we wanted.  In the end, we decided to go big or go home and get exactly what we wanted.  Thankfully, it fit our budget.

Today, we walked back over there, paid our down payment, and ordered our car.

I'm kind of bummed we'll be giving up our 328i after only 6 months.  It was a good car, and it treated us well.  However, it's worth giving it up to have this sitting in our garage:

The City of Amberg

Every new soldier who arrives here is required to go through what's called "German Head Start", which is a week-long class that covers the basics of living in Germany.  Beyond basic language instruction, it includes information about living in the country, including shopping, traveling, setting up cell phone contracts, et cetera.  On the last day of the course, the class takes a trip to the nearby city of Amberg.  Unfortunately, the class was only for Soldiers, so Sharay was unable to accompany me.  Nevertheless, I'm planning on taking her there as soon as we get our car.  It was too nice for her to miss out.

On a side note, I forgot my camera, so I had to use the camera in my phone.  I apologize if some the pictures are blurry or poorly exposed.

The trip started with a stop at the city's largest grocery store, just to give us an idea of what one is like in Germany.  It really wasn't much different from one in the States, so I didn't bother with pictures.

The next stop was much better.  We drove to the top of the hill that overlooks the city where we visited a Franciscan church that was built in 1699.

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The view from the church's steps

Upon leaving the church, we went next door to a nice restaurant that served authentic German food.  I had baked ham covered with cheese, all on a bed of steamed, white asparagus.  It was delicious.  Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to drink on the trip since we were considered "on duty".  Luckily, I've already been able to try German beer a few times.  Let me just make this clear right now: nothing I've ever had in the States comes close.  There, I said it.

Anyway, the nice thing about German restaurants is that you can stay there as long as you'd like after you're done eating.  There's never someone trying to hurry you out the door like back home.  Needless to say, with the view from the patio, we took full advantage of this custom.  We ordered coffee for dessert and chatted while enjoying the cool breeze.

Our final stop was in downtown Amberg, which sits inside the city's old defensive wall let over from the Middle Ages.  The city itself has expanded far beyond the walls, but the area within has become the upscale part of town with apartments and excellent shopping.  Even better, only a couple of streets allow cars in the downtown area, so pedestrians have nearly free reign.

Amberg's cathedral dominates the city square.  I'm not sure when it was built, but it's definitely been there for a while.

The other side of the square that faces the Cathedral

The main square's fountain

We wandered down the main street for a while, checking out the shops.  I even found one that sells loose-leaf tea, so there's no doubt I'll be back.  

At one point, we crossed over a river that bisects the city

Finally, we made our way back to the square and looked inside the cathedral.

The trip was short, but I got a great taste of what a Bavarian city is like.  I can't wait to go back with Sharay and show her around!

A bit about the local area

Now that we've been here for a couple weeks and have been able to explore the surrounding area, we wanted to share our observations of the region with you.

We're in the northern part of the German state of Bavaria in a region called the Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz in German).  We'll be living in the town of Eschenbach in der Oberpfalz (the last part distinguishes it from another city in Germany named Eschenbach).  The town is about 10 minutes from Grafenwoehr, which will make commuting extremely easy for me.  The entire region is mostly rural, so there's not a whole lot of excitement.  However, there are several nice restaurants and biergartens (beer gardens).  The area also has several protected forests with hiking paths.  The nearest big city is Nuremberg, which is about 45 minutes away.  We're looking forward to seeing it as soon as we're able.

The area's extremely green and picturesque.  In many ways, it looks similar to the Pacific Northwest, except with more farmland and not quite as wet.  Still, it's rained several times since we've been here, and the area supposedly receives quite a bit of snow in the winter.

As for our house, we signed the lease yesterday get to move in on June 6th.  With any luck, our car will be here by then, making it much easier for us to get around.  If not, we might have to rent something.  Wish us luck!

That's it for now.  Thanks for reading, and please leave any questions in the comments (which should be working now).

Comments should be fixed

Several of you have mentioned that your comments don't appear.  Luckily, I found the problem.  There was a default setting on that prevented unregistered users from commenting.

To make a long story short, you should be able to comment now.

Question Answered

Question:

So the landlord said Sox can live there too? He will love the cat

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To Mom:

Well, this is a different house. The Landlord's rules for this one is that up to two pets are allowed, so there will be no problems with Sox living with us in the place we have officially signed for today, the one with the virtual tour link in our earlier posts.

We saw many different places in the past two weeks, I'm sorry if I was unclear about which one we went with in the end.

Compared to the house with the nice cat and goats, the one we signed for is a bigger house (5 bedrooms and 2 baths) and in a different town. (Eschenbach.) Best of all, the Landlord is living in Texas right now so we have the entire property all to ourselves. It has a HUGE lawn Mom, I can't wait until you see it, if you are able to make it out here to visit us after all. I think Sox will be very happy there, I know Justin and I will be too.

Thanks for commenting Mom!

If anyone else wants to comment, just click the "comment" link below any entry. We will be glad to respond when we can!

Nothing New

Hello, there was not much going on this past weekend. Justin and I watched Iron Man in our Hotel room, went walking around on Saturday, and yesterday Justin's sponsor drove us to Pottenstein where we had an amazing dinner. She called it "steak on the stone" but it's real name was in German, began with an S and was quite long. Katie (Justin's sponsor) told us that she had once asked the owner of the restaurant how to pronounce the name but he just laughed and gave her the rough translation that I mentioned above. :)

The restaurant was very nice and so was everyone working that night. The scenery outside the windows of the restaurant was also very pretty. Katie told Justin and I that we were very close to a forest with caves and other neat places to walk, too bad it was raining so much.

Justin had the Kangaroo, Katie ordered Ostrich, and I tried the Wild Boar. After a short time, they brought the sizzling cuts of raw meat out to our table which were neatly arranged on platters containing a hot stone in the middle, accompanied with different dipping sauces and bread. It was a lot of fun to be there and eating something new! Justin and I agreed that when we finally had guests over to visit us, that we had to show off our newest find. I know one person in particular who would probably love the fact that there is Crocodile on the menu. (My little brother, Austin.)

Anyway, today is another slow day. We got the Lease Agreement approved by the Housing office, so we need to drive over to Grafenwoehr and get it printed, signed, and scanned to be sent back to the Landlord of the house we want in Eschenbach. It will be so nice to be one step closer to having a home of our own, this Hotel room is making us feel a little cramped, and I miss being able to cook real meals with real ingredients on a stove as opposed to different variations of ramen noodle dishes a la microwave...Très Bien! (Yes, that was sarcasm, sorry.)

I love my new phone, I have my email set up on it to let me know the second anyone writes. Justin and I also downloaded the Star Wars Lightsaber app and have random battles with our phones. I love our geekiness, not going to lie.

That's it for now! I will write again if there's anything else going on!

Our Search is Complete

I just got off the phone with the landlord.  Thankfully, she agreed to lower the rent from 1400 euros to 1250 euros, which the army will cover.  In short, we have an amazing home to look forward to!  Within a couple days, we'll be official with the lease agreement and we'll have the keys on June 1st.

Needless to say we're ecstatic!  Time to celebrate our first small victory!

If you haven't seen it yet, here's a link to the virtual tour of the house (just bear in mind, our Feng Shui will be superior):

http://manuspaur.point2agent.com/Listing/VirtualTour.ashx?ListingID=34783956

Quick Update

We just saw the house with the virtual tour link.

WE LOVED IT! Justin is sending an email to the owner now to express our interest.

Wish us luck! ^_^

The Search Continues!

Yesterday's house hunt went much better! We were able to see the outside of one home in Eschenbach, and we were fortunate to be seen for a walk-through in two others:

The first was in Apfelbach, very close to where Justin will be working. It was a fair sized lot and a two story building with a detached garage and plenty of storage space. The landlord told us that he would be living upstairs and that we were free to lay claim to the lower level which had 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, a full kitchen, cozy living room with a gas furnace and a small terrace overlooking a portion of the backyard. The houses' "common areas" included a basement with one room for storage and hanging clothes to dry, the other room contained a washer and dryer. I am happy to tell you that not only was everything clean and well maintained, but I found no trace of any spiders or mold! We thanked the Landlord, (Who can't have been any older than we were, and had the tattoos and piercings to prove it) for his time. It was a very nice place and we will keep it in mind, but we were unsure if we would be able to live there without cramping his style a little bit.

The second house we were able to see was just outside of Vilseck, also fairly close to where Justin will be working. This one we liked very much: it was a house on a piece of property in much the same situation as the one before, except the Landlord lived in a separate house roughly 100 yards away from the home he was looking to rent. It reminded us of The Shire from The Lord of the Rings! There were goats and a very friendly cat, nice shady trees, flowers and so much grass! The elderly Landlord seemed gregarious upon our first meeting, and enthusiastically gave us a tour of the house. It had a covered and tiled walkway up to the front door which opened to a hallway which lead in many directions at once. The Landlord showed us the kitchen first which, much like the previous house we had seen, had a full (albeit small) kitchen. He assured us that he would leave all cabinets and appliances for our use should we need them, which is not usually done. I was struck once again by this man's kindness. He then showed us a room directly behind the kitchen which he suggested could be used as an office. Justin and I happily nodded in agreement. We returned to the hallway and were led in a different direction, to the living room, and then back into the hall and into a very large bathroom which doubled as a laundry room. I am happy to say, that once again all facilities were clean and new. Justin and I could not believe our amazing luck! We returned to the hallway once more and were lead upstairs this time, where we found two more bedrooms, one of which Justin and I agreed would become the Guest room should we choose to live here after all. We expressed our gratitude to the Landlord, thanking him for his considerate decoration of this home and also for his time, that was when Justin asked him if Sox living there with us would be a deal breaker in any way? Sadly, it seemed to be. Justin's sponsor will send him pictures via email of Sox for consideration, she is certain he can be persuaded as long as we pay a pet deposit and a monthly "pet rent" fee. We will see how that turns out.

Today at 6 PM we will be looking at yet another home as a back up plan, we had been speaking with the owner and were able to negotiate a lowered monthly price from the initial steep amount of 1400 euro. Here is a virtual tour of it online. Check it out and tell us what you think in the comment boxes below, if you want! (Just mute the lame music, we did! Haha)

http://manuspaur.point2agent.com/Listing/VirtualTour.ashx?ListingID=34783956

House Hunting!

Today we had the opportunity to check out a house in a village named Brand about 25 miles away from the base on Grafenwoehr. It was, as promised in the ad HUGE. It was 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and it had a backyard terrace with an immaculately maintained garden, a large lawn, and a very nice sun-room that overlooked both. It was also located on a main thoroughfare and had a basement and attic, so in other words...there were 4 stories to this place. Needless to say, it was too huge.  Now that I mentioned all of its' good points, I will not hesitate to list the reasons why Justin and I walked away from this particular opportunity.

The current tenant, to his credit, told us no lies. He explained that the Landlord has been "renovating" for the past 4 years he had lived in the house, but next to nothing has been accomplished. He warned us that although the Landlord is very kind, he can be absent-minded and slow to fix things in need of maintenance and there were many things in need of attention.

The house was built in the 1800's. Not necessarily a bad thing, except that each and every year showed: The walls with their cracks and missing paint, the rickety staircases, the damp smell of mildew in the air, the pervasive dark throughout all levels of the house. Then, the deal breaker! Apparently the place is also infested with spiderssss! Eek! I walked out with the creepy crawlies and Justin did not look convinced either.

On the way back to our hotel room, Justin's sponsor Katherine told us we would be looking at another apartment tomorrow evening, this one is a 2 bedroom 1 bath. We saw the outside today during our drive, it looks cozy and well-maintained and it has a large fenced yard for Sox to run around in. We admired the sunset as we returned to the car and Katherine was kind enough to take our picture to include in today's blog.

The search continues!

Our Journey to Bavaria

Justin and I arrived at the Dallas airport driven via taxi by a kind driver (who smelled overwhelmingly like onions) at about 9:30 AM. Our flight was not scheduled until 2:25 PM so he and I were all too happy to walk at a leisurely pace through the surprisingly calm airport, filled with other sauntering and smiling individuals going about their business. We located our gate and took up residence there with our modest amount of carry on luggage. "Modest" due to Justin's insistence, not my marvelous amount of restraint I will admit.

After we had sat a little while and wrapped up last minute phone calls from home and sipped at some smoothies we decided to have lunch at a nearby restaurant located in our terminal. Justin seemed happy with his Chipotle burger and I forced myself to eat soup and salad. I was not very relaxed and thus not very hungry. I am a terrible traveler by air and I dreaded what was to come. As a safeguard, Justin and I had agreed that I should buy sleeping pills in case the flight got to be too stressful or long. They rattled reassuringly in my purse as we pulled our luggage back to the gate. It was just after 1 PM and we could see our plane out a nearby window. We chattered excitedly and took pictures of it.

We chattered also about the heavy rains last night and the presence of dark clouds looming overhead. 2:25 came and went and we were told that our original plane had a maintenance issue and needed to be replaced. I heaved a sigh of relief Justin's way and we watched as the ground crew took the first plane away.

With a revised boarding time of 3:15PM, we had time to sit awhile and chat some more. Justin was in very high spirits and kept happily reminding me of our plans to travel. I made me happy to see him so animated. I swallowed my gloomies and allowed his infectious enthusiasm to catch on. In our celebratory mood, we had sipped on two glasses of wine earlier that day, one with lunch, and one in the local winery also located near our gate some time after lunch. By the time the plane was ready for boarding at about 4PM, Justin and I trudged to our seats accompanied by feelings of fatigue and one splitting headache apiece.

The weather worsened and we sat on the plane for one additional hour while the pilot waited for a safe gap in the storm in which to take off. Justin graciously allowed me the window seat and I sighed with resignation as the plane gathered speed and began its' ascent. Due to the 100% humidity in the area, the wing was awash in water; my pulse quickened and my eyes darted about with fear finally settling on Justin's calm assuring ones.

I will pause and allow Justin to take over from here, he seems anxious to do so at this moment...I want to assert now before he adds any artistic license to this part of our tale that I was totally calm and mature during the flight. ...hahaha! Who am I kidding?

Justin here. Let me just say, Sharay did very well and remained very collected despite her fear of flying...until we left the ground. When the plane rotated, the high humidity in the air condensed over the wings, shrouding them in "clouds". It was enough to send Sharay over the edge. She threw her face into my shoulder and kicked her feet like a child throwing a temper tantrum every time the plane shuddered from turbulence. Over her sobs, I (without letting her see me laugh, I found her little kicks hilarious) I tried to comfort her and reassure that everything was fine. Thankfully, the plane shortly made it through the rainclouds and the flight smoothed. From then on, the flight went well and our only problems were sore backsides and trying to find a comfortable position to sleep.

Ten hours later we finally landed at Frankfurt International Airport. Happily, Sharay never had to crush my hand in a death grip and seemed genuinely happy to be in Europe. Of course, she might have just been happy to be off the plane, but I can't fault her there.

After passing through customs and picking up our luggage, we waited for our bus in a holding area where one of the Army civilians kept us entertained with rudimentary lessons in German. Once on the bus, we watched the Autobahn pass by (and the fast German cars passing us by).

Before long, our exhaustion and jet lag caught up with us and we slept fitfully until our designated dinner stop at a German restaurant with authentic local food. Just kidding, we actually stopped at McDonald's...but it was a little different, so that was cool...I guess.

Anyway, we returned to the bus for the final leg of our journey. Fortunately, we left the Autobahn before long, allowing us to catch our first real views of the Bavarian countryside with its forested, rolling hills interspersed with tiny villages and orderly plots of farmland. We kept saying how it looks like the Shire in Lord of the Rings. It will be so amazing to have a place to live here.

Finally, by 7 PM we reached the base and signed into the hotel. Too tired to go anywhere, we ordered a pizza from a local restaurant. It was kind of bland, but we were too tired to care. After forcing ourselves to eat a reasonable amount, we showered and crawled into bed where sleep happily took us.

Greetings from Germany!

Hello everyone!

Justin here, we're still getting settled in here in Germany.  I'm working on a detailed post about our trip over here.  Until then, I'll leave you with a picture from the drive to Grafenwoehr:

Hi, it's Sharay, the trip here took a long time, but so far it seems well worth it! I can't wait until Justin and I get off base and take some more pictures to show all of you. I am also excited about Monday when Justin will be meeting with the Housing office so they can get the "finding a place to live" process started. This hotel room is cozy, but it seems empty without our Sox. I hope he is behaving himself in Denver!