Waking Up
When I returned to the hotel room around midnight I almost immediately fell asleep. Around 9am Tim was knocked on the door letting me know Norah and the kids were heading down to the restaurant for the complimentary breakfast. The plan was to attend mass at 10am at the cathedral, come back to the hotel to pack, than head to their home in Grafenwoehr.
About 15 minutes after Tim knocked on my door I was at the restaurant looking for his family. The breakfast at the hotel was complimentary and very impressive. It was buffet style and for the first time in at least a month I saw bacon! I can not put in words how good the thick cut bacon tasted. After about 10 minutes we were off to the lobby to regroup with Norah and the kids
Mass
The walk to the cathedral was very short. Once we crossed the Stone Bridge we were effectively there. We got there right on time. To our dismay, all pews and spillover seats were full. There were signs that said sightseeing was not allowed during services, but there were plenty of people in the back taking pictures and watching. I have no problem with people silently watching what's going on - it's important to allow others the opportunity to learn about Catholicism. That said, it was completely ridiculous. Half the spillover chairs were filled by tourists - a huge group left about 10 minutes after the start.
//Begin Rant
The church did very little to ensure practicing Catholics were accommodated. The Muslims do a wonderful job closing mosques during prayer time - most are open all other times. I get the Church's desire to keep things open and allow everyone the chance to participate, but since attending mass is a critical obligation to Catholics I'm surprised the Church cares very little about accommodating practicing Catholics. Tourists either don't understand or care unless you force them to. I'm not asking for the Vatican to fly me in because I'm sick of the USA...just maybe reserved seating for practicing or somewhat practicing Catholics? I mean, Israel will fly back, at the countries expense, Jews who want to return. They even fly Jewish youth out to Israel, paying all financial costs to ensure it's possible for all. Is a seat really that much to ask for from my Church?
//End Rant
Autobahn to Grafenwoehr
After Church we hopped on the autobahn and made our way to Grafenwoehr. There were 5 of us in the tiny Ford Fiesta, but Tim still got the car up to 106 mph. I must say I was disappointed with the autobahn. I thought it would be this glamorous shiny black topped 6 lane road, but in the end it was no different than an ordinary 4 lane (2 in each direction) American highway without speed limits. Since I was planning to drive in Germany and part of Eastern Europe, throughout the drive he'd explain signs and autobahn rules.
Cleaning Up & Errands
The first order of business once we returned to the house was to clean it up before the inspector arrived the next day. The movers had already come, so most of the furniture was gone. Since shipping the furniture takes months, loaner furniture was provided and remained in the house. Their real car was gone too, what we had been using was a rental.
There were a few other odds and ends we had to do. Tim has two dogs, so we had to stop by where they were boarded to coordinate airport pickup. We also had to pickup a few things from the shop on base and drop off recyclables. The military base was huge, the size of a small town with buildings spanning blocks and blocks. I had to be checked in and given a day pass. The military actually held my passport until I returned the day pass. Tim explained that nearly the entire base bombed during WWII. First stop was to dump recyclables at a facility that was once a gas station. Next stop was to the retail shop on the base. Base prices were said to be very good. The base prices were similar to what you'd expect to pay in the states. Currency at the retail shop was US dollar. Next stop was to pickup lunch for the family - we ended up at Burger King. To my surprise, currency there was also US dollar. Shortly thereafter we went back home and had lunch.
Now that we were back at the house there were some final cleaning details we had to work through. Tim and Norah were resistant to let me help. They said they felt guilty having a guest help them clean - I suspect they think I'm incompetent though. In any case I took care of spackling the basement. Although I have no award to show for my contributions, I will say I did an awesome job.
2 Minute Cracker Challenge
Thereafter we ordered some pizza and came across an expired MRE kits. An MRE kit is a meal in a bag that can be prepared anywhere. After some interesting knowledge about MRE swapping etiquette, we told me about the 2 minute cracker challenge. In a nutshell, the challenge is to eat packet of crackers in less than 2 minutes without any water. It didn't look very difficult. The kids wanted some of the crackers so we opened a packet of crackers and peanut-chocolate butter. The crackers and butter were tasty. After having 1/4 of the packet (the kids and Tim had the rest), I was pretty convinced I could consume the entire packet in 2 minutes. Unfortunately, the second MRE he had did not contain crackers so I didn't get to complete the challenge. After watching a few videos on youtube I seriously wonder if I could pull it off.
Shortly thereafter, Norah and kids called it a night. Tim and I would stay in and catch up on things. We'd actually start watching the first couple of episodes of the TV show The American's - which so far is excellent. We talked a bit about what to see in Germany. Although I spent some time in Munich, I needed another night or two to see the sites. I also had planned on visiting Berlin and Nuremberg. After remembering Prague was only a couple of hours from where I was I considered extending the Germany trip and vistiting Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia within that time. The show is about Soviet spies living in the US during the cold war. More specifically, the 80s...around the time he and I grew up. We were up until about 3ish chatting and watching the first couple of episodes. It's definitely something I'll binge watch on the flight back or when I return.
During conversation I mentioned I had planned on touring Chernobyl and Pripyat before returning and Tim mentioned Germany was still affected to some degree by the disaster. I found that incredulous, the two towns are over 1,000 miles apart. He insisted that to this day a small percentage of meat from the wild boars that roam the preserve in his back yard is considered unsafe because of radioactivity. He went on to say all boar meat from the preserve in his back yard must be tested for radioactivity before sold and consumed. I figured either the ground was naturally radioactive (think Radon) or sometime long, long ago some meat was found to be unsafe. Certainly nothing could be found in recent time. As crazy as it sounds, a small percentage of meat from animals raised on the land is found to be too contaminated (by radioactivity) for consumption and destroyed. The meat is still tested for that reason. The root cause is usually mushrooms or vegetation eaten by the animal. The vegetation usually had come come into contact with dust or debris that have remained in place since the disaster decades ago. Another man-created environmental disaster I learned about was the Aral Sea. In 1960 the Aral Sea was larger than Lake Michigan by surface area. Today it's almost dry, although Kazakhstan is working to reverse the trend with encouraging success.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow Tim, Norah and family would head to the hotel on the Army base after the inspector did the final check out. I hadn't made definitive plans about where to go from here. I still have about 5 days left to check out Germany. I was thinking about extending it out to visit some of the neighboring countries like Czech Republic and Austria. Further, Grafenwoehr is less than an hour away from Czech Republic and about 2 1/2 from Praha (Prague), a city very high on my wish list. We'd explore the rental car options the next day when we went to the base.
When I returned to the hotel room around midnight I almost immediately fell asleep. Around 9am Tim was knocked on the door letting me know Norah and the kids were heading down to the restaurant for the complimentary breakfast. The plan was to attend mass at 10am at the cathedral, come back to the hotel to pack, than head to their home in Grafenwoehr.
About 15 minutes after Tim knocked on my door I was at the restaurant looking for his family. The breakfast at the hotel was complimentary and very impressive. It was buffet style and for the first time in at least a month I saw bacon! I can not put in words how good the thick cut bacon tasted. After about 10 minutes we were off to the lobby to regroup with Norah and the kids
Mass
The walk to the cathedral was very short. Once we crossed the Stone Bridge we were effectively there. We got there right on time. To our dismay, all pews and spillover seats were full. There were signs that said sightseeing was not allowed during services, but there were plenty of people in the back taking pictures and watching. I have no problem with people silently watching what's going on - it's important to allow others the opportunity to learn about Catholicism. That said, it was completely ridiculous. Half the spillover chairs were filled by tourists - a huge group left about 10 minutes after the start.
//Begin Rant
The church did very little to ensure practicing Catholics were accommodated. The Muslims do a wonderful job closing mosques during prayer time - most are open all other times. I get the Church's desire to keep things open and allow everyone the chance to participate, but since attending mass is a critical obligation to Catholics I'm surprised the Church cares very little about accommodating practicing Catholics. Tourists either don't understand or care unless you force them to. I'm not asking for the Vatican to fly me in because I'm sick of the USA...just maybe reserved seating for practicing or somewhat practicing Catholics? I mean, Israel will fly back, at the countries expense, Jews who want to return. They even fly Jewish youth out to Israel, paying all financial costs to ensure it's possible for all. Is a seat really that much to ask for from my Church?
//End Rant
Photo of choir taken after mass ended
Autobahn to Grafenwoehr
After Church we hopped on the autobahn and made our way to Grafenwoehr. There were 5 of us in the tiny Ford Fiesta, but Tim still got the car up to 106 mph. I must say I was disappointed with the autobahn. I thought it would be this glamorous shiny black topped 6 lane road, but in the end it was no different than an ordinary 4 lane (2 in each direction) American highway without speed limits. Since I was planning to drive in Germany and part of Eastern Europe, throughout the drive he'd explain signs and autobahn rules.
106 mph in a rental Ford Fiesta
Cleaning Up & Errands
The first order of business once we returned to the house was to clean it up before the inspector arrived the next day. The movers had already come, so most of the furniture was gone. Since shipping the furniture takes months, loaner furniture was provided and remained in the house. Their real car was gone too, what we had been using was a rental.
There were a few other odds and ends we had to do. Tim has two dogs, so we had to stop by where they were boarded to coordinate airport pickup. We also had to pickup a few things from the shop on base and drop off recyclables. The military base was huge, the size of a small town with buildings spanning blocks and blocks. I had to be checked in and given a day pass. The military actually held my passport until I returned the day pass. Tim explained that nearly the entire base bombed during WWII. First stop was to dump recyclables at a facility that was once a gas station. Next stop was to the retail shop on the base. Base prices were said to be very good. The base prices were similar to what you'd expect to pay in the states. Currency at the retail shop was US dollar. Next stop was to pickup lunch for the family - we ended up at Burger King. To my surprise, currency there was also US dollar. Shortly thereafter we went back home and had lunch.
Now that we were back at the house there were some final cleaning details we had to work through. Tim and Norah were resistant to let me help. They said they felt guilty having a guest help them clean - I suspect they think I'm incompetent though. In any case I took care of spackling the basement. Although I have no award to show for my contributions, I will say I did an awesome job.
2 Minute Cracker Challenge
Thereafter we ordered some pizza and came across an expired MRE kits. An MRE kit is a meal in a bag that can be prepared anywhere. After some interesting knowledge about MRE swapping etiquette, we told me about the 2 minute cracker challenge. In a nutshell, the challenge is to eat packet of crackers in less than 2 minutes without any water. It didn't look very difficult. The kids wanted some of the crackers so we opened a packet of crackers and peanut-chocolate butter. The crackers and butter were tasty. After having 1/4 of the packet (the kids and Tim had the rest), I was pretty convinced I could consume the entire packet in 2 minutes. Unfortunately, the second MRE he had did not contain crackers so I didn't get to complete the challenge. After watching a few videos on youtube I seriously wonder if I could pull it off.
Family cracker challenge!
Shortly thereafter, Norah and kids called it a night. Tim and I would stay in and catch up on things. We'd actually start watching the first couple of episodes of the TV show The American's - which so far is excellent. We talked a bit about what to see in Germany. Although I spent some time in Munich, I needed another night or two to see the sites. I also had planned on visiting Berlin and Nuremberg. After remembering Prague was only a couple of hours from where I was I considered extending the Germany trip and vistiting Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia within that time. The show is about Soviet spies living in the US during the cold war. More specifically, the 80s...around the time he and I grew up. We were up until about 3ish chatting and watching the first couple of episodes. It's definitely something I'll binge watch on the flight back or when I return.
During conversation I mentioned I had planned on touring Chernobyl and Pripyat before returning and Tim mentioned Germany was still affected to some degree by the disaster. I found that incredulous, the two towns are over 1,000 miles apart. He insisted that to this day a small percentage of meat from the wild boars that roam the preserve in his back yard is considered unsafe because of radioactivity. He went on to say all boar meat from the preserve in his back yard must be tested for radioactivity before sold and consumed. I figured either the ground was naturally radioactive (think Radon) or sometime long, long ago some meat was found to be unsafe. Certainly nothing could be found in recent time. As crazy as it sounds, a small percentage of meat from animals raised on the land is found to be too contaminated (by radioactivity) for consumption and destroyed. The meat is still tested for that reason. The root cause is usually mushrooms or vegetation eaten by the animal. The vegetation usually had come come into contact with dust or debris that have remained in place since the disaster decades ago. Another man-created environmental disaster I learned about was the Aral Sea. In 1960 the Aral Sea was larger than Lake Michigan by surface area. Today it's almost dry, although Kazakhstan is working to reverse the trend with encouraging success.
Tim and Norah's house
Moirah's empty bedroom would be mine tonight.
That's a comforter on the bed...not a body
Recycling machine that returns deposits at Aldi
Machine can take a case of bottles at once or a bottle one by one
Tim's old office digs
Tomorrow Tim, Norah and family would head to the hotel on the Army base after the inspector did the final check out. I hadn't made definitive plans about where to go from here. I still have about 5 days left to check out Germany. I was thinking about extending it out to visit some of the neighboring countries like Czech Republic and Austria. Further, Grafenwoehr is less than an hour away from Czech Republic and about 2 1/2 from Praha (Prague), a city very high on my wish list. We'd explore the rental car options the next day when we went to the base.
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