blog news, German lifestyle, Hessen, holidays

Winter can scram now, bitte!

I’m just writing a quick post to update this blog, since it’s been 13 days since my last entry. The weather has been pretty crappy since my last post. This week, we had two snowstorms. One occurred Sunday, and though most of the snow had melted by the afternoon, Bill’s planned business trip to Prague was abruptly canceled.

The meeting he was supposed to attend still happened, but his flight was called off, and there was no way to get to Prague in a timely manner. I heard that not only was the weather bad in Prague, but there was also an airline strike. So I don’t know what actually caused the cancelation– the winter weather, or a strike. I was glad he missed his business trip, because I like it when Bill is home with me. However, it did kind of spoil Presidents Day weekend, which used to be a good time for short trips away.

*It’s been quite a winter in 2026. This is the kind of snow we experienced in BW. But it doesn’t hang around for as long up here.*

The other snowstorm happened on Thursday. A couple of inches were dropped and then promptly melted. Not quite all of the snow from the first storm was gone. The backyard is sodden, and the creek that runs through Breckenheim is very high right now.

Bill has another trip planned starting Monday. He’ll be gone until Thursday. It’s only to the Netherlands, though, so no airplanes are involved. Meanwhile, once again, a shipper has decided not to deliver to my house. I got an email letting me know that DPD tried to deliver yesterday, and wasn’t able to, because they didn’t have my full address. Of course, that’s not true… it seems like nowadays, shipping companies just want you to go schlep to a packstation. 🙄 The same thing happened last week.

Valentine’s Day was also pretty boring. Bill did send me 30 roses, but they didn’t last long. I think maybe it’s best not to get roses for Valentine’s Day. Maybe choose another flower, or get it a day or two ahead of time… or just buy diamond earrings. 🤣 My roses arrived on Friday, but they were pretty small. I remember last year, the florist sent a small bouquet, which they claimed was the “wrong order”. The roses were tiny and quickly wilted. The following week, they sent a new bouquet that was much better and lasted a lot longer.

*Sadly, these only lasted a couple of days before they were depressing to look at. But I did appreciate the lovely thought.*

Anyway, I’ve been giving some thought as to where I’d like to travel next. We will definitely go to Switzerland again this year, because of Bill’s studies at the Jung Institute. But I would like to go somewhere we haven’t been yet… providing that we don’t end up in another world war. So, I’m working on that, and waiting for the sun to come out again. Maybe we’ll go out and do something tomorrow… maybe not. But I do look forward to getting out and doing something fun in Germany, soon. The days are getting longer, so it won’t be long before spring arrives, and we can get out and about… then this blog will “spring” back to life. 😆

blog news, house hunting

We’re almost done with our vacation/recon mission…

I’ll be back in Germany on Sunday, and I hope to be hard at work on the travel series for our trip to Italy and Switzerland. I do have a lot of stories to share, as well as plenty of photos. It’s been a low key trip, mainly because it’s off season, and also because our purpose for going to Abruzzo was to see if maybe we could live there.

Anyway… it sure is beautiful in those parts. You got mountain views, sea views, and lots of old buildings. We got stared at a bit, mainly because people with naturally blonde hair and blue eyes are in low supply down there. It was obvious we weren’t locals. But no one was nasty to us. Almost everyone seemed to be more curious than anything else. There was one exception. I’ll write about that when I write about our trip.

So this is just a heads up for those who like to read the travel blog. It’s about to come alive again. Stay tuned.

blog news, dental, German lifestyle, Health, Sundays

Mother’s Day in Deutschland, 2024…

We had big plans to do something fun this weekend. The weather is fine, with lots of sunshine and warm temperatures. Unfortunately, we never managed to get out yesterday, because we got bogged down with chores. By the time they were done, it was mid afternoon. So we ended up enjoying the backyard, which was freshly mowed and trimmed.

Bill cooked burgers on the grill and we enjoyed lots of beer and my ever expanding music catalog on the HomePod. We weren’t the only ones who stayed home yesterday. Our neighbors on both sides were also enjoying the weather in their backyards. The featured photo is of Deschutes Black Butte Porter, which was a welcome find in the Class VI store on post. I miss American craft beers.

This morning, I woke up with a horrible crick in my neck that really hurts. It’s somewhat better now, since I took some Advil. Fortunately, we can get Advil on post, as it’s not available without a prescription in Germany. The painkiller took the edge off the crick, but it still hurts to turn my head to the right. My stomach is also still bothering me a bit…

Bill finally made me an appointment with a gastroenterologist at the local hospital. Because we have Tricare insurance, they automatically give us the chief of the service. I guess Tricare is considered private insurance here, which means we rate the so-called “best” doctors. I’m nervous about the appointment, which happens a week before my birthday next month. I haven’t seen a physician since the spring of 2010. I saw a military doctor (who was a civilian) at the now defunct Fort McPherson in Georgia for what I’m sure are gallstones… Nothing was done then. This time, I don’t think I’ll be as lucky. 🙁 I expect this doctor will want to do some rather unpleasant tests… but maybe he won’t. We’ll see. Either way, there will be drugs involved.

I truly hate going to doctors. I was severely traumatized by one years ago, and it’s caused problems for me ever since. I pretty much have to be dying before I’ll go see one. Consequently, I have no recent medical history whatsoever, other than COVID-19 vaccinations. I am a little afraid this visit will prompt a cascade of medical attention… or, at least, they’ll encourage it. SIGH… and I am now at an age at which shit starts happening. Anyway, enough boring shit about my health. At least I don’t feel too terrible. The stomach thing is mostly just an annoyance. The crick in my neck is more of a nuisance on this Mother’s Day.

I was thinking maybe we’d go somewhere today, but again, it’s Mother’s Day, and that means a lot of people will be dining out. We once made the wrong decision to go out on Mother’s Day without a reservation, and it was almost a disaster. So, since it’s a big restaurant day, and because I don’t feel that great, anyway, I think we’ll stay home and enjoy the weather in our backyard. Or, I will probably do that after I take a nap. Right now, Bill is in the kitchen, cleaning up the oven. He sure is a sweetheart… Below are a couple of photos of lunches he packed for himself this week. Everybody gets a kick out of how beautifully presented and healthy his lunches are. Meanwhile, I would prefer to eat junk.

I don’t know how I ended up with a military veteran husband who is so in touch with his feminine side. But we sure do have a lot of fun together. I was hoping to book a short break somewhere this month, but we can’t seem to get the Hund Pension to answer email… As soon as they do, we will start building our next vacation, which looks like it will take place in Iceland. So… we’ll see what the next week brings.

Hopefully, whatever is causing my stomach issues won’t be anything serious… and I won’t run screaming from the room when I meet the doctor. I also hope he’s not the type to lecture… either way, I’m sure I’ll write about it next month. Tomorrow, Bill goes in to get the next part of his dental implant done. It will involve some minor surgery. Hopefully, that will go well for him. My own implant experience was not quite as traumatic as his is turning out to be.

We also heard from Bill’s younger daughter and her children. One of them made Bill’s day by saying he wanted to say hello to “Papa”. If you know our story, you know that is a very big deal. If you don’t know it and are curious, you can check the main blog… or just understand that parental alienation after divorce is a real thing and a huge problem. But, fortunately, Bill’s younger daughter inherited her dad’s capacity to forgive, as well as his good sense.

Bavaria, blog news

Yes, I spell like an American… Have you got a problem with that?

Today, Bill’s mom is coming to visit us for a week. Bill is about to leave the house to go pick her up from the airport, as her flight will arrive in about an hour. Her last visit was in 2020, so it’s been awhile. I genuinely like Bill’s mom, so this should be a good time.

Monday, we’re going to be heading out of town for the work week, but we’re not going far. I’ve booked us a rental house at a winery in Würzburg, which is only about a 90 minute drive from Wiesbaden. But we will be in Bavaria (Bayern), rather than Hesse.

I don’t have a lot to report about this trip right now, except to say that we’re probably also going to take a day trip to Bamberg, which is an hour away by train. Or, maybe we’ll drive there. I would have liked to stay there, but the lodging in Würzburg is better suited to bringing along a guest. We could have gotten two hotel rooms for the same cost of renting a small house. Both cities are noted for their beautiful architecture. I expect we’ll enjoy some Rauchbier (smoked beer), too.

Today, I want to very briefly address something I noticed when I was dumping the (very full) spam folder this morning. Someone with a British Web (spam) address left a spam comment that they “enjoyed my content”, but it’s “rife with spelling errors” that makes it hard for them to read. My guess is that this person didn’t read much more than the title of the blog, which is indeed, spelled correctly with just one “l” in “traveling”. Why? Because I am an AMERICAN, and I spell like an AMERICAN. Or maybe this person just wants to be an asshole.

Do not criticize my spelling. There’s nothing wrong with it. I’m just not a British subject. You cringe when you see me leave out letters and use a z instead of an s. I cringe when you use an s instead of a z and use more letters than you really need. It is what it is. If you don’t like my American spelling, you’re free to read or SPAM a British person’s blog. I don’t mind criticism where criticism is warranted. But there is nothing wrong with an American person using American spelling on a personal blog. In fact, if my American spelling really makes it harder for spammers to leave annoying trash comments, so much the better. ;)

And please don’t spam my blog, either… because it’s a complete waste of time. :D

That’s all.

anecdotes, blog news

Physical challenges on the stairways to paradise…

Yesterday’s outing to the Kubach Cave was sort of a test for me. I’ve always been a pretty healthy person, albeit fatter than I ought to be. That is, of course, because I’m not as “herbal” as I ought to be… (with many apologies to Livingston Taylor). I like good food and I drink a lot of beer and wine, as well as the odd cocktail. I probably should stop doing that, since I’m in my 50s, but I’ve got no reason to hang around here… So I might as well enjoy myself while I can.

Here’s James Taylor’s brother, Livingston, singing the song of my people…

Still, it’s not that easy for me to climb up and down stairs anymore. I’m actually pretty lucky, though. I’ve so far been blessed with very robust physical health. I have some friends who have needed knee replacements or other complicated orthopedic interventions. I don’t have any problems with my knees (yet). I do have lower back aches that can sometimes make walking a literal pain, but it’s not so bad that I don’t eventually loosen up.

I was a little worried about yesterday’s caving experience, but it turned out fine. Other than a little minor soreness in my thighs today, I feel mostly okay. I did do a lot of “huffing and puffing”, as my old riding teacher used to say, but I recovered fairly quickly. So now I know that two upcoming physical challenges that I will almost definitely face are well within my reach.

The first challenge I know I will face will be the Cesky Krumlov Castle Tower in Cesky Krumlov, Czechia. I climbed this tower on my birthday in June 2008. One week from this coming Tuesday, we will be back in Cesky Krumlov for a couple of nights. If the weather is good, maybe I’ll work up the gumption to climb the tower again and get some fall views of the beautiful town. During our first visit in June 2008, we happened to arrive in time for the Five Petalled Rose Festival. Everybody was dressed in medieval garb! I thought I had stumbled into a theme park. This time, that festival won’t be going on, but I already know it’s a picturesque town. I was sad we had to leave last time we were there. This time, we’ll get a couple of nights to enjoy the ambiance. And maybe my old body can still handle all those steps at the tower…

*Only 162 steps… that’s less than yesterday’s challenge!*

Since we’ll have a little more time in 2023, maybe we’ll have the chance to visit the castle itself, although if the weather is nice, I can see myself wanting to just walk around the town. It really is very charming, and I have a feeling it’s a place a lot of American tourists miss. We only found out about it because we stayed in Passau, Germany for my birthday in 2008 and the innkeeper at our hotel told us about it. We had a wonderful day there, and in nearby Cesky Budejovice. Now I’m kind of wishing I could have booked one more night!

We will also be going to Brno and Prague on our next trip, and I suspect there could be climbing challenges in both of those cities. I’ve never been to Brno, but I have read and heard that one of the best activities in that area is caving. There’s a good chance we’ll visit one or two of the 1100 caverns and gorges in the Brno area– especially since only five cave systems are open to the public.

And Prague no doubt has towers to climb… church towers at the very least. I may be in the mood for a visit to a beer spa by then. Prague now has several beer spas. So do other towns in the Czech Republic! Bill and I are really big fans. On the other hand, after our experience at the beer pool in Austria, plain old “beer spas” kind of pale in comparison. Looks like they’ve gotten really pricey now, too.

Prague does have the famous Astronomical Clock Tower, of course… but I see you can take an elevator! Maybe by the time we get to Prague, I’ll be screaming for an elevator! We only have two nights in Prague, anyway. I’m hoping to find us some new art for the house.

The next physical challenge I know I’ll be facing will come when we visit Yerevan, Armenia in November. I know I’ll face the Cascade Steps… and that I used to be able to do them without too much trouble. In fact, there was a time when I climbed up and down them on a daily basis. But then I discovered the escalators and figured out the public transportation system and quit punishing myself with the steps. It’s a shame, really. I have never been a very athletic person, but I have always been pretty strong physically. I just don’t enjoy how I feel when I’m exerting myself. I do, however, like the rush of endorphins. Must be the adrenaline junkie gene that the men on my dad’s side of the family seem to have.

*How I remember them in 1995… Special thanks to my Peace Corps friend Elaine, whose photo I ripped off from Facebook (mine are all in storage).* 🙁

*What they looked like in 2019! Special thanks to Gerd Eichmann on Wikipedia, who authorized use of this unedited photo. շնորհակալություն!* (*Armenian for thank you!*)

The Cascade Steps in Yerevan go up 387 feet, but you can take your time ascending. Or, you can go to the left of the steps and find the seven escalators that will take you up, so you can see the views without getting winded or sore. I suspect the air quality in Yerevan is better than it was in 1995, so I am hoping for some great views of Mount Ararat– if we have decent weather, that is. But we’ll be there a little over a week, so perhaps we’ll have some good luck. I’m sure I’ll climb the steps at least once during our visit.

Over the years, Bill and I have done some pretty great physically active trips. Usually, when we were doing them, I thought I might die. But, as you can see, I never did.

There was the visit to El Yunque in Puerto Rico, where I fell and landed on my ass on a rock. It took months for the tailbone pain to go away. But we had a really great day!

*We did a lot of work to get to this crowded waterfall in El Yunque in 2010.*

There was the walk from hell from Lake Bled, Slovenia to Vintgar Gorge, during which we neglected to bring water or wear sunscreen. Then, once we got there, we hiked the gorge. It was another great, but exhausting, day. And yes, I made Bill get us a taxi for the ride home.

There was also the time we walked from the port on the Isle of Capri in Italy to the town. It was a long walk uphill. I had a cold, and many Italians were good naturedly laughing at us as we sighed, huffed, puffed, and groaned… We did make it, and we ate lunch served by a guy who looked a lot like Matt Lucas on Little Britain.

I remember climbing up the mountain to visit Highline 179 in Austria and the castle ruins on either side. Later that day, we visited the aforementioned beer pool in Tarrenz, Austria, which perfectly soothed my muscles.

We visited the All Saints Waterfalls (Allerheiligen Wasserfälle) in Baden-Württemberg a few years ago, and that involved some pretty stout climbing… as did our visit to Slap Savica in Bohinj, Slovenia. And I could pontificate all day about our two thrilling, but physically exhausting, trips to the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia!

Bwahahahaha… I guess as long as I keep walking and climbing things, I won’t get quite this big.

We’ve also climbed a whole bunch of church towers in multiple European cities… way too many to list here. And not once has the embarrassing situation in above video ever happened to me. On the other hand, the last time we were in Bruges, I made a point of avoiding that particular tower.

Anyway… I’m just glad we managed to successfully visit the Kubach Cave yesterday and I’m not too worse off for wear today. It gives me hope that my body isn’t too far gone for some of these adventures. I realize that there may come a time when I can’t do this kind of stuff anymore, so I’m going to keep using my body before I lose it. And I will continue to thank God for having really strong and healthy genes. Some of my friends and former classmates haven’t been so lucky.

Bill is off to Bavaria again today, so I guess I’ll spend the next few days planning our upcoming trip. I can hardly wait, because I definitely need a change of scenery… and this blog could use some fresh content. I continue to be shocked that this is my life… and that I’ve managed to have all of the wonderful experiences I’ve already had with Bill. No wonder he makes me smile so pretty. 🙂

blog news, Military

Some practical things that the last nine years of living in Germany have taught me…

Lately, I’ve noticed I’ve been getting lots of hits from the United States on this blog. Many of the hits land on my posts about the differences between life in Germany with the US military versus military contractor life. There must be many recent retirees or other people who have left the military thinking about taking the European plunge.

In early August of this year, Bill and I celebrated our ninth year of military contractor life in Germany. A lot has happened since our arrival in 2014, and this blog is full of those stories. Over the years, I’ve added updates to my military vs contractor series. Those posts are easy to find on this blog, although please bear in mind that until 2019, this blog was hosted by Blogspot. I did move the old posts to this blog, but they are formatted somewhat differently. Moving the old posts was very labor intensive, and I’m not even sure I got everything fixed properly! The job took several weeks!

I moved the blog to WordPress in the summer of that year, due to a very bizarre situation that arose. I’m not sorry I moved the blog, but that weird situation did change the way I do things and significantly reduced my readership. I also learned a lot from that situation, which I’ll explain more about later in this post.

As I survey the past nine years, I realize that I’ve learned a lot of stuff. Some of what I’ve learned has been very practical, and it will probably serve me well for the rest of my life, no matter where I live. Some of it has been unfortunate and kind of disheartening. The rest of it is stuff I might have learned anywhere.

Since there are so many people hitting the soldier vs. contractor posts, I thought maybe I’d share some wisdom I’ve picked up over the past nine years. Maybe it help some people… or maybe some will be entertained or amused. I will issue a caveat that some of what I’ve learned is a little disturbing, but it’s part of our story… and I like to be straightforward as much as possible. So here goes.

Citric acid is your friend

I’ll start with a relatively benign thing. Before I lived in Germany, I had no idea that citric acid would be something I’d want to keep in my house. Aside from when I was a kid in rural Virginia drinking well water, I didn’t have to deal with the insane hard water that Germany has. It was pretty bad when I lived in Stuttgart, but it’s even worse in Wiesbaden.

Citric acid is cheap, and it’s essential for getting rid of hard water stains and limescale. Vinegar is also good for cleaning glass and descaling things, but I’ve found citric acid to be much more effective. So now, I always keep it in the house… and I expect that won’t change if and when we move back to the States. Mix it with hot water and let it soak. It’ll really help get rid of that chalky stuff. Here’s a link to the brand I usually buy from Amazon.de, but you can also get it in local stores.

Adequate insurance is a MUST

I’ve written about this a few times, but I’m going to write about it again. Get insured. If you’re coming here as a contractor and could be here awhile, I highly recommend buying German insurance policies, rather than relying on USAA or another US based company.

Chances are good you won’t need your German policies, and I do understand not wanting to get into German contracts, which can be hard to break without sufficient notice. BUT… I’m here to tell you, German insurance policies are usually fairly cheap, and they can save your ass.

I recommend having a liability policy, at the very least. This is a policy that covers situations like when when you accidentally break another person’s property. If you have pets, you should definitely get pet liability insurance, which covers any damage or accidents caused by your pets (accidents caused by them will not be covered by personal liability insurance). You may also want to consider purchasing legal insurance, though that’s not as essential. All three of these products have been useful to us.

My husband and I had an unfortunate incident involving an awning at our rental house when we lived in Stuttgart. It was an old awning, and in poor repair. One windy day, it collapsed. Our landlady insisted that it was my fault that the wind blew down the awning. She wanted us to buy her a brand new one. We happened to have a German liability insurance policy, which gave her a very low settlement. She wasn’t happy about the settlement, but it was good that we had it, even though she still tried to rip off our security deposit to pay for a new awning. Which leads me to my next point…

Join the Mieterverein!!!!!

This is the German tenants union, and it can be very useful if you have a dispute with your landlord/landlady. It’s very inexpensive to join. We are members, although in our situation with our former landlady, we ended up using our German legal insurance policy instead of the Mieterverein. Still, I highly recommend that anyone renting a home on the German economy become a member of the Mieterverein at the very least. The above link will take you to the general site, where you can find the Mieterbund in the area where you will live.

I mentioned above that when we moved out of our last house, our former landlady tried to illegally seize our “Kaution” (security deposit), because she was upset about the low settlement she got for her awning. She didn’t directly charge us for the awning, since she had accepted a settlement for it. But she did make up lots of little charges that would amount to what she said she would pay for a new awning.

We used our German legal insurance to get advice from German lawyers, and we ultimately ended up suing her. It turned out she did a lot of things wrong, to include never doing an “protocol” when we moved in and out of her house, and never reconciling the Nebenkosten (other costs paid for things like trash). In Germany, it is the law that landlords reconcile the Nebenkosten every year. She didn’t do it for the four years we were in her rental house. Consequently, we had the right to ask her to return ALL of the Nebenkosten we paid for the whole four years we were in her house. It totaled thousands of euros.

Now, we didn’t end up demanding that she return the Nebenkosten, but it did help us build our successful case against her. There were other issues, too. Like, she also falsely accused us of theft, and charged us ridiculous fees, for things she couldn’t prove we did, on old stuff that needed to be replaced, anyway. She ended up having to return most of the Kaution she illegally withheld, plus she had to pay for court costs, her lawyer, and our lawyer… though I’m sure she had German legal insurance, too.

Moral of the story is… Make sure you are insured adequately! And if there is the slightest hint that there will be an issue when you move out, get the legal insurance ASAP. It won’t cover pre-existing issues, and there’s also a waiting period before you can use it. But… if you don’t want to get German legal insurance, you should at least join the Mieterverein. Sometimes, the memberships even include legal insurance for landlord issues. Also… don’t be afraid to use the German legal system to fight for your rights. It’s not that hard, especially if you have legal insurance. Unfortunately, there are landlords here who WILL prey on the fact that you aren’t a local.

Don’t be too quick to accept a house

I actually had a bad feeling about our ex landlady when I met her. I wish I’d listened to my gut. It might have spared us some grief. But, I did enjoy living where we lived, and dealing with ex landlady was educational on many levels. I wouldn’t recommend learning lessons the way I did, though. It’s very stressful.

When we moved back to Stuttgart in 2014, we were dealing with some pretty major life issues that made us want to settle into a house quickly. We also had memories of the housing shortage that existed in 2007, during our first Germany stint. Finding housing isn’t as hard as it was in 2007, though; so learn from us, and take the time to find a decent place that you’ll like, with a landlord/landlady who doesn’t make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

Don’t get too involved in the Facebook group dramas

This was an unfortunate mistake I made in 2014. I joined a ton of local groups in Stuttgart, and got too sucked into the dramas of the groups. I’m not saying you can’t make good friends that way, or that being in the groups isn’t useful, informative, or entertaining. But those groups can lead to bizarre situations that can make your time in Germany more stressful and stupid than it needs to be. I could write about several of those that personally affected me, but that would make this post even longer than it already is.

I learned from our Stuttgart experience regarding Facebook groups. When we moved to Wiesbaden, I only joined the local pets group and continued to maintain the wine and food group I started when we lived in Stuttgart. I didn’t join any other groups. My life has been much more peaceful as a result, and I’ve gotten to know more locals. Your mileage may vary, of course. I’ve just seen a lot of drama erupt over social media, and was involved in way too much of it, especially in Stuttgart. So I recommend proceeding with caution and limiting the number of groups you join. Besides, those groups can eat up precious time that you could be spending on exploring Europe.

If you bring a car, consider joining ADAC or another auto club

Both times we’ve spent in Germany, we’ve had occasion to use our ADAC policy. One time, we went on a Baltic cruise and came back to find our battery dead. We called ADAC and they sent us a guy with a battery. He fixed our car on the spot, and we were on our way.

Another time, we were in France and some jackass deliberately popped our tire, hoping to rob us. He didn’t succeed, but he caused quite an issue for us. ADAC was a lifesaver there, too, helping us to get new tires and report the crime to the French police. There are other auto clubs besides ADAC, so do some research and choose one that works best for your budget and lifestyle.

Enjoy yourself!

I know not everyone likes living outside of the United States. We’ve seen a lot of people come and go, and some people are happy to go when their time over here is finished. Unfortunately, being a military contractor can be stressful, because contracts are won and lost all the time. When we lived in Stuttgart, Bill’s first company lost its contract. The new company hired him, but the next year, his job was turned into a GS position. In fact, that’s why we moved to Wiesbaden. Wiesbaden, by the way, seems to be much friendlier to contractors than Stuttgart was, at least when we were there.

Having now lived in both places for a total of nine years, I can honestly say that both have their pluses and minuses, and you really can’t go wrong moving to either place, as long as you manage your expectations and keep your eyes open. One thing that we have tried to focus on is ENJOYING our time here, and seeing places. And when you see places, don’t forget to explore locally. We missed a lot of really awesome local stuff when we lived in Stuttgart the first time, because we were so focused on seeing the rest of Europe. We also had to leave a year early, which sucked.

If you care at all about living in Europe for the experience, rather than just the job, then I urge you to make the most of your weekends and holidays. Go see Paris and Rome, but don’t forget about Stuttgart and Wiesbaden… and Mainz, Frankfurt, Tübingen, the Black Forest, the Rheingau… and any of the other really cool little places near where you live. Nagold is one town we completely missed the first time we were in Stuttgart and ended up loving when we came back. So I recommend going out to explore locally, and soaking up the culture. You may not have another chance… On the other hand, you may end up like me, and seem destined for European life indefinitely.

If there’s any interest in more posts like this, I’ll be happy to write them. Feel free to leave a comment or a question, because there’s definitely more I could share.

Now… time to write something for the main blog. See you next post!

Baden-Württemberg, blog news

Hello from Stuttgart!

Here’s a quick post to say hello from our old stomping grounds, Stuttgart, Germany. We got here Friday and will be coming home on Tuesday. I expect to write several posts about this trip, which has turned out to be surprisingly productive so far. We’ve visited a couple of new places, as well as one we haven’t seen since 2008.

The weather has been positively crazy, which is totally normal in March. Today, we’ve seen rain, wind, sunshine, and HAIL! It’s possible there could be snow tomorrow, though I doubt it will stick.

We have to see our dentist in the afternoon. He’ll be repairing things for both Bill and me, and we’ll get cleanings… and then, when we get home on Tuesday, we’ll fetch Noyzi and start planning our next big adventure, which will likely be somewhere totally different. I might even get on an airplane again.

Even though we’re in Stuttgart, this trip is pretty pricey for us. But today, we scored a new carpet for the living room, which desperately needs it after Arran’s many clandestine toilet runs. It doesn’t match the other two carpets, but the rug guy says he’ll be up in Wiesbaden in three weeks. Maybe we’ll just redo the whole living room.

I’ve also noticed a lot of businesses coming and going down here… and a lot more road construction. It’s weird to see the changes.

Anyway, I’m not quite ready to start blogging yet. But I do have a lot to write about… Here’s a short list, so I don’t forget:

Bill mistaking a Muslim woman in dark coat with a hood and a white headscarf as a nun.
The “Familie von Trapp” and the private concert/birthday party we crashed.
Arran is everywhere…
“You don’t need to put a bow on that load…”
Wein fur Eins…

Stuttgart will always have a piece of my heart, in spite of some of the things that happened when we lived here. It’s a beautiful place, with good people, delicious food, and gorgeous scenery. So, watch this space for the new series. Maybe I’ll start it tomorrow, but definitely Tuesday it will commence, if I’m not in the hospital or somewhere else like that. We’ll see.

blog news

Eight years of contractor life…

I’ve decided to add another entry to my “contractor life” series. Aspects of this story might seem insensitive. Please bear in mind that it’s simply my perspective, and I’m trying to be honest about my personal experiences over here. Other people’s mileages may vary. Also, this article mentions suicide, so please proceed with caution. The featured photo is our current house!

This morning, I noticed that someone hit some old posts I wrote when we last lived in Stuttgart. They were about “contractor life”. I had completely forgotten that I had written those posts, which were pretty popular when I was still using the Blogger platform. I think I meant to maintain that series, but then March 2020 hit, and we all know what happened with that. 😉

My husband’s contractor life in Germany has continued, and now we’ve lived in Germany for eight years. A lot has happened over those years. Hell… I just look at old photos from August 2014, when we first moved back here, I realize that Bill and I both look different. I quit coloring my hair, for one thing. The hardness of German water turned it into straw when I used color, and I hate going to hairstylists. I’m sure this look would surprise people who last saw me stateside, back in 2014.

Last time I wrote one of these posts, we had just found out that Bill’s old job was being converted to a GS (government service) position. At that point, we didn’t yet know that Bill would be an attractive candidate in Wiesbaden. He waited to apply for the job, mainly because we thought we wanted to stay in Stuttgart. At the time, I was a bit trauma bonded– and I didn’t want to move— for all the wrong reasons. Finally, one of his old bosses came to him and told him that the folks in Wiesbaden were actually WAITING for him to apply for the job, and had requested him, personally. He had pretty much all of the experience and skills they were looking for. At the same time, I finally had a epiphany one night when I was home alone. Although I had been resisting leaving, I actually wanted to leave Stuttgart.

Actually, it wasn’t so much that I wanted to leave Stuttgart, as I wanted to move out of our old house. For several reasons, our former landlady and I didn’t get along at all. Complicating matters was the fact that former landlady’s ex tenant, an American who was also her “friend”, was monitoring my blogs and apparently reporting back to the ex landlady.

It wasn’t so much that I was posting a lot of stuff about the ex landlady, per se, as that I would occasionally vent in the blog when she would upset me. She had a habit, for instance, of yelling at me in my own home, and treating me like an especially slow-witted child. I really resented it. Moreover, the whole time, former tenant (then living in the USA) was occasionally leaving me comments, then dirty deleting them, after reminding me about the importance of maintaining her “privacy”. It made for a very toxic, stressful living situation, which all came to a head when my husband sued the ex landlady for illegally withholding over 80 percent of our deposit (legal insurance for the win, though– get it if you come here).

I liked our neighborhood, but I didn’t like the house. Even if our landlady didn’t have a habit of popping over unannounced, blaming me personally for things that weren’t my fault, and yelling at me for inconsequential things, it was a house without much charm or convenience. It had two things going for it– a nice view into the forest, and a relatively low rent (low for Germany, not the United States). Because we lived there for four years, and we got tax breaks from living abroad, we were able to retire a lot of debt, including my student loans (about $40,000 when we arrived in 2014, and completely paid off less than four years later).

Okay, I also liked the fact that the house was close to Nagold, which is a great little town on the edge of the Black Forest. But the town we lived in wasn’t that interesting, and it was far from where Bill worked. Living there meant long traffic jams and a hideous commute for Bill. And, although the house was badly in need of renovation, our ex landlady acted like we should be grateful to be “allowed” to live there, and we ought to willingly put up with her micromanagement and surveillance without any complaint. She also seemed to think we should allow her to use our money to upgrade the house. I figured it was time for her to harass someone else– although hopefully not anyone from the US military community. We did submit her name to the non referral list, along with the paperwork from the lawsuit that took about two years to settle.

I also found the local Facebook environment in Stuttgart to be a little too dramatic, and it was way too easy to get caught up in the drama myself. Stuttgart has a lot to offer, and we still love going down there to see our dentist. But I had made the mistake of getting involved in too many local Facebook groups, and that led to a lot of embarrassing adolescent toxicity that frankly, at my age, I don’t have time for anymore. A move to Wiesbaden meant I could divorce that drama somewhat and start anew.

So, one day in September 2018, when Bill came home from a business trip to Africa, I told him that I wanted him to take the position in Wiesbaden. He threw his hat in the ring, and after a very perfunctory phone interview, was offered the job. In late November 2018, we made the intra-Germany move to Wiesbaden. I did write a series about it, which you can find starting here.

The former tenant finally seemed to leave me alone after the lawsuit with the ex landlady was settled, although I suspect that she was keeping an eye on me from afar (either by watching personally, or having “flying monkeys” do it). But she did finally quit monitoring me. I now know that this will be a permanent condition, because sadly, she took her own life a few months ago. Maybe it seems tasteless to mention this part of the story, but it IS part of the story, and a reminder that sometimes some crazy stuff can happen that you might never expect.

I don’t know why the former tenant took the drastic actions she did. I had her blocked on Facebook, and did not go looking for information about her, because I simply wanted her to leave me alone. However, she had worked for the same company Bill does. Last spring, he noticed she was no longer on the email roster and wasn’t showing up in the GS system. So, at that point, I decided to unblock her on Facebook and look her up, because I wanted to make sure she wouldn’t be re-entering my life.

That’s when I made the shocking discovery about her tragic suicide. The news was easy to find, as it was widely reported online. While I’m glad to know she’s permanently out of my life, I’m also genuinely sad for her friends and family. I’m even sorry for the former landlady, whom I know had held her in high esteem. I never would have expected this turn of events, either. It was truly a shock to find out about it several months after it happened.

It’s hard to believe that we’re now coming up on four years in Wiesbaden. It’s been quite a ride. I will say that living here, in spite of COVID-19 and a few personal upheavals, has mostly been less stressful. For one thing, we have a much better house and landlord. Yes, it costs a lot more, but our landlord is much fairer and more respectful. He lives next door, but he leaves us alone. Our neighborhood is very friendly, and we don’t share walls with anyone. Many of our neighbors have dogs, too, so I worry less about them annoying people.

I only know a handful of people in the local military community, which is also, frankly, a plus for me. Again– less drama and less bullshit with people in the military community. Some people like being “popular” and are very extraverted. I’m not one of those people; I just like to write, and I like to be honest when I write. I did have a temporary setback with my blogs, because I felt forced to relocate them to WordPress. That was a real pain, mostly because it meant a lot of work reformatting the travel blog and starting over completely with the main blog. The upside is that I think the blogs are better quality now. I do have fewer readers, especially on this blog, but the ones who do read are of a better quality. I get fewer “drivebys”, and more people who are actually interested in the content, rather than stirring up shit and causing trouble.

Anyway, aside from the difficult and stressful divorce from our Stuttgart life, we’ve really enjoyed living in Wiesbaden. No, it’s not as picturesque as the Stuttgart area is, but Wiesbaden offers a lot of its own charms, and a very different culture. Personally, I think my husband gets treated better as a contractor in Wiesbaden. The US military’s footprint is smaller here, and the population in the military community is somewhat more mature. There’s less traffic and fewer traffic jams. And again, I mostly stay away from any military affiliated Facebook groups, except for the one I run. It’s a food and wine group, so there’s very little drama involved with that. I’ve found that people here tend to be somewhat friendlier, and if you like wine, Wiesbaden can’t be beat!

I’m especially grateful that we’ve been able to experience living in two areas of Germany. The last eight years have flown by, and we’ve been so fortunate to be able to see and do many exciting things, not just in Germany, but in Europe as a whole. So, if you’re reading this, and wondering if you should move to Germany, I would highly encourage you to give it serious consideration. Yes, there are some aggravations related to living over here. But, on the whole, I find living in Germany more interesting and fun than living in the United States. I especially love being away from the crazy political climate in the United States. The European lifestyle suits us and, once you get used to how things are done here, it’s not hard to be an expat in Germany. It’s also been very good for us financially speaking. The only problem is, now I don’t want to move back home. 😉

I hope this latest installment is helpful. I know the current political difficulties in Europe will end up generating jobs, and that means that more Americans will probably consider making the move. If you have any questions, be sure to drop me a comment.

blog news, Ten Things I Learned

Why “I Ain’t Been Nowhere” and ten more things I learned in Alsace, France…

It’s time for me to write another one of my “ten things I learned” posts. This one is coming a bit later than usual. I’m going to preface the post with a bit of an explanation for the people who still follow my travel adventures.

I’ve held off on writing my usual “ten things I learned” post for our most recent trip to France. I’m sad to say that I’ve kind of lost some of my desire to produce travel blog posts. There are a couple of reasons for this development.

Ever since I moved my blogs to WordPress, I’ve been struggling with lagging morale, particularly regarding the travel blog. Part of the reason I’ve been struggling has to do with people who were following me on Blogspot and decided to cause trouble. That situation was what led me to move my blogs in the first place. I suspect they just didn’t like me personally, for whatever reason, and decided to stir up some shit. It all ended badly, and ultimately, not in their favor, but it left me with some significant psychological angst that has taken some time to overcome.

I spent a year struggling with feeling really violated and angry, mainly because the people who were causing issues were being creepy, dishonest, and toxic. I’ve written quite a lot about that situation, mostly on my main blog, so I don’t want to rehash it here. I do think it’s really sad that some people feel the need to meddle in other people’s business and try to sabotage something like a personal blog. What those people did caused real damage on many levels, and there was absolutely no reason for it, other than their need to be destructive and creepy.

The second reason I’ve been less enthusiastic has a lot to do with the pandemic, and how difficult and annoying travel has been since COVID-19 became part of life. I was finally starting to feel better about writing in early 2020, only to have everything fall apart due to a deadly novel virus. The below song by Rhonda Vincent is pretty much a good summation of my feelings about COVID… If you haven’t heard it, I highly encourage you to listen. I promise it’s good, unless you just can’t abide bluegrass.

Sometimes, I think I’d like to go back to the USA, just so I can see Rhonda Vincent perform in person. Even if you aren’t a bluegrass fan, this song is awesome. Those harmonies make me want to cry! (in a verklempt way)

I am happy to report that Europe really is FINALLY opening up again, and COVID measures are becoming less obnoxious. This is happening, even though COVID infections are on the rise again in Europe, and I was actually exposed to COVID on our latest trip (though I haven’t been sick). I’m hoping the “red tile” on my Corona Warn app will go back to green today. Bill and I had a wonderful time in France, and now we want to travel more. So, I’m hoping we can move back into our former lifestyle, and I will recapture the joy of travel and experiencing new places and things. And now, on to the ten things I learned…

10. COVID-19 measures in France are currently much less annoying than they’ve been in Germany.

One of the reasons Bill and I went to France in the first place is because we didn’t want to be bothered by strict COVID rules. France doesn’t require FFP2 face masks, and if you are vaccinated, you don’t have to bother with masks in public indoor areas of restaurants and hotels. You do still need to wear a mask in shops, because they don’t check for vaccinations at the door. This was true during our visit, but as we know, rules are always subject to change.

9. Soufflenheim is French pottery heaven!

We have been to the Alsace area of France many times, but we’ve always stuck to the Wine Route. This was our first time exploring the area above Strasbourg, and we decided to go there because we knew Soufflenheim was where Alsatian pottery is made.

8. But there isn’t that much else going on in Soufflenheim…

Or, at least that was our impression during our visit. It’s a great place to go pottery shopping, but I wouldn’t say the town is particularly picturesque. However, nearby Sessenheim, where we stayed, is very cute!

7. There’s more to Alsace than the Wine Route.

On our previous trips to Alsace, we stayed in pretty, tourist friendly towns like Riquewihr, Colmar (Bischwihr), Ribeauville, and, of course, Strasbourg. We have visited the picturesque hamlets around Riquewihr and Ribeauville, and even made a point of stopping by Kaysersberg, where Anthony Bourdain took his life in 2018. If you go north of Strasbourg, you’ll still be in Alsace, but it feels different… and it’s well worth seeing.

6. Auberge Au Boeuf is a really cool place to stay!

I think the main reason we enjoyed our trip so much is because we discovered Auberge Au Boeuf, which is a wonderful, historic restaurant. But it also has four really cool bedrooms that can be rented. We were delighted by how thoughtfully designed and beautiful the hotel was. The little town of Sessenheim is also notable for its historic connection to Johann von Goethe, a very famous German poet, playwright, novelist, and statesman.

5. Michelin starred restaurants are not the end all, be all…

I do enjoy eating fancy food on occasion; but I’m really much more of a comfort food fan. We ate at the Michelin starred Auberge Au Boeuf twice. I’m not sorry we did that, but we did learn that “fancy food” should be special, or the magic wears off. On the other hand, it had been so long since we last indulged!

4. Speaking German often, but not always, comes in handy in Alsace.

We kind of already knew this from other trips, but we did run into a number of people who didn’t speak German or English. It made me wish I had studied French, in school, instead of Spanish.

3. The town of Bitche, which is in Lorraine, is very close to Kaiserslautern and Ramstein.

I did not realize how accessible this town, with its impressive and famous citadel, is to Germany’s largest military community. Maybe if Bill had worked in K-town, we might be slipping over the border more often.

2. Saverne is a cute town I’d never heard of!

We visited Saverne on a whim after we got bored in beautiful Obernai. Seriously, Obernai is a very pretty town, but it reminded me so much of other wine route towns. It was a treat to discover Saverne, which was about 45 minutes away. It had a very different feel. I wish we’d had time to explore more of it. Maybe we can go back.

It’s time to get back to enjoying Europe… for as long as possible.

One of our biggest regrets during our first time living in Europe is that we spent too many weekends at home. We completely missed out on the Black Forest and Alsace during our Army tour. In fact, I don’t even remember any visits to Stuttgart Mitte during those two years. When we came back to Germany in 2014, we were determined to explore more. For four years, we were able to do that, and we did it to great success.

But then, once we moved, we dealt with harassment and COVID-19, which knocked us off track somewhat. As we’ve learned from COVID, life is short and tomorrow is never guaranteed. Putin is making things in Europe a bit tense. Add that to COVID, and things can seem mighty grim. The truth is, every day there are risks to be faced. It’s time to face more risks and get back to living. I hope that’s what we can do more of in 2022.

And to those who want to cause trouble and see me fail…

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Ready, set…

It’s early Sunday morning. We are still in Salzburg, Austria, but we’re already packed up and will probably be on the road to Germany in an hour or so. We have had a marvelous trip, and I am ready to write all about it. I don’t know what time we’ll get home today, since Germany has experienced a large surge in COVID-19 infections since we’ve been gone. I expect we could experience a delay at the border, even though Bill uploaded our vaccine documents to the Robert Bosch Institute (or whatever), proving that we’ve had the shots.

I look forward to having clean laundry and seeing my dogs. I’ve been worried about them while we’ve been gone, but I also know that we would have heard something if they weren’t okay. I look forward to taking a nap with Arran and being goosed in the butt by Noyzi. I do like to take trips, but I also like being at home, where everything is familiar. I suppose my car battery is probably dead, since the Mini hasn’t been started in ages. And hopefully, no one broke in during our absence, but our landlord lives next door and is always home, so I doubt that happened.

So this blog will be waking up very soon…. I look forward to sharing the many photos and stories, hopefully starting today, but definitely starting tomorrow… unless we get wiped out on the Autobahn, or I get arrested for punching out bikers who flip me off (more on that in an upcoming blog post).

Stay tuned!

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

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