Our new Kosovar rescue dog, Charlie, is finally here!

Yesterday morning, we added a new family member to our household. Our new street dog, Charlie, flew from Pristina, Kosovo to join us here in Germany. So far, he’s fitting in beautifully, and getting reacquainted with Noyzi, our sweet, gentle, relatively giant rescue dog, who is also from Kosovo.

Noyzi and Charlie are both about six years old. They were both rescued in 2018, when they were puppies, by our friend Meg, an American who has rescued many street dogs in Kosovo. When we took in Noyzi in 2020, Charlie was also supposed to find a new home in Germany. However, his home fell through, and he spent the next few years in limbo, being cared for by a foster family in Kosovo. Kosovo, like a lot of Eastern European and Balkan countries, has a pretty big problem with street dogs.

A couple of years ago, when Meg visited Noyzi at our home, she told me about Charlie. At the time, we still had Arran, our very devoted and extremely jealous beagle mix, who was having trouble adjusting to Noyzi’s presence after we’d lost Arran’s buddy, Zane, to lymphoma. I remember when Meg first told me about Charlie, and I had this feeling we were going to end up adopting him. But, at the time, Arran was still very much with us, and he would NOT have appreciated another dog coming to live with us at that time.

We lost Arran to lymphoma on St. Patrick’s Day, 2023. In the past, we’ve been quick to adopt new dogs after we’ve lost one. But it’s harder for Americans to adopt pets in Germany, thanks to shelters not trusting us to take them with us when we leave. Now, of course Bill and I would not consider abandoning any of our animals in a shelter unless there was an extremely good reason and no other feasible alternative. I would actually say never— but I’ve learned it’s best never to say never. However, not every American who lives in Germany is as dedicated to their pets as we are, so the rest of us get a bad rep.

I do want to write a quick word about this issue. Sometimes people who work with the US military or government do have to re-home their pets due to situations beyond their control. Sometimes they have to move to places where it’s impossible to bring their pets with them. And sometimes it’s simply much too expensive to move the animals. The costs can suddenly change, as can the rules for shipping pets. Shit happens. But because so many Americans have ditched pets at pet shelters in the military areas of Germany, Americans are often discriminated against when they try to adopt from German shelters. I know there are exceptions, though… especially when Americans can get a German to vouch for them. And I also know there are Germans who would vouch for Bill and me.

In any case, although we knew we wanted to adopt another dog eventually, we weren’t in a hurry. Losing Arran left a big hole in our hearts. But then last fall, Meg asked me if we would be interested in adopting Charlie, who was still waiting for a home. I asked Bill, and he quickly said yes. So the process of moving him to Germany began. I knew Noyzi wouldn’t mind it if Charlie came to live with us. He loves other dogs!

Bringing a dog to Germany from Kosovo isn’t a matter of simply putting them on a plane. They have to have a special blood test before they can come, and there’s a waiting period. Then there are the actual logistics of the move, which involve traveling through several countries by car, or flying on a plane. When we adopted Noyzi, we met Meg in Slovenia. That was quite an adventure, as she was bringing other dogs who would be adopted by Americans. You can read about that saga by clicking here.

Charlie had already taken and passed the blood test back in 2020, but because so much time had passed, he had to have another test done. And then we had to coordinate logistics for getting him here. At first, we thought we might have him by April, but that didn’t happen. The weeks went by, and I wondered when we were going to be able to meet Charlie. Not that his foster family minded, as they were very attached to Charlie. Now that he’s home with us, I can see how they got so attached. He really is adorable!

Meg finally decided to go to Kosovo this month, although her plans for how to get Charlie to Germany were kind of fluid. Would she be driving or flying? She worried about the temperatures, as it’s not safe to fly animals in very hot weather unless the airline has temperature control in the cargo hold. Lufthansa is usually pretty good about this, as are other European airlines.

Then there were our schedules to consider. Bill left this morning to go to Texas and Utah and he’ll be gone for ten days. We have plans to go on vacation at the end of August-early September. We wanted time to break in Charlie and allow the people at our Hundepension to meet him. And then there’s just the reality that dogs don’t live as long as most people do, and time was getting away from us. So Meg decided that she would fly Charlie to us yesterday, since she has plans to go home to the United States for vacation.

Meg booked an early flight from Pristina to Vienna, then onward to Frankfurt on Austrian Airlines. I remember when she sent the itinerary, and I was a little skeptical that she’d be able to make the layover, which was only 35 minutes. If she hadn’t had Charlie, yes… it would probably be possible. But he had to go through security again once they landed in Vienna. Then there was the big IT Windows screwup that affected air travel everywhere.

*Charlie about to be loaded on his flight to Frankfurt from Vienna…*

Fortunately, Austrian Airlines did a great job in getting Meg and Charlie on the next flight, which arrived in Frankfurt yesterday morning a few minutes early. But they didn’t get Meg’s bags on the plane, and then they had to wait for the cargo folks to get Charlie to the baggage area. That took over an hour. But finally, they showed up, and there was our sweet new rescue dog, sitting quietly in his kennel. We loaded him in the kennel in our car, drove home, and prepared to introduce him to Noyzi.

It was interesting to wait for Meg in the arrivals hall. We saw a lot of stories in action. The cutest one involved a little girl with a rainbow painted on her forehead. She held a sign that read “Hallo Papi.” When her Papi finally showed up, she ran to him and he swept her up in an embraced, then kissed her mother. It was so sweet to watch!

I also watched a dog reunite with a man who must have been her favorite person. He came into the arrivals hall, arms outstretched, and she ran to him, showered him with kisses, and then greeted everyone else in their party. Then the whole group left the airport with great joy among them. I think if you need a pickmeup, hanging out in an arrivals hall could be an interesting pastime.

Anyway, back to Charlie’s arrival home. We think he and Noyzi will co-exist nicely. Noyzi is kind of a loner, and he spends a lot of time in his “bedroom”, which is also our entertainment room. But he likes other dogs, and doesn’t seem to be the jealous type, as Arran was. Noyzi is the biggest dog we’ve ever had, while Charlie is the smallest! They look like Rocky and Bullwinkle! Charlie also has hind dew claws. We’ve never had a dog with those before, either.

When we got Charlie home, I called Noyzi down from his room to go outside. We brought Charlie out to the yard, only letting him out of the kennel when Noyzi was there to meet him. They touched noses, sniffed butts, and Charlie went around to inspect his new surroundings. He was definitely a lot less nervous than Noyzi was when we brought him home in 2020! He was delighted to meet all of us, and very quickly made himself at home.

As I write this, he’s sleeping on the rug behind me. He’s learned to go up and down the stairs, marked a few things in the house, and slept in a bed with his foster dad’s shirt on it. After I finish this post, we’ll take our first walk around the neighborhood. I have a feeling he’s going to charm a lot of people, because he’s got such a sweet, sunny personality. It almost feels like Zane and Arran are both visiting us through Charlie.

Noyzi doesn’t seem bothered by Charlie. The two of them almost had a play session last night, although I think Noyzi might be dealing with a slight case of arthritis. He’s been slightly gimpy lately until his joints warm up.

Below are some of the best photos from yesterday.

So far, Charlie seems very happy to be in Germany. He’s been through some tough trials. There’s a scar on his back from when he was a tiny puppy. Two girls found him and begged Meg to save him. Meg has told me she thought someone had tried to kill Charlie when he was a puppy. Charlie somehow survived, in spite of that person’s cruel efforts to end his life. Obviously he was meant to be here.

I said this when we took in Noyzi… who by all rights should have died on the streets of Pristina. Imagine the odds that a dog from the streets of Kosovo would end up living with Americans in Germany! And yet, here they both are… living with Americans in Germany. Both of them have done what may have seemed truly impossible. I guess their story is a life lesson we can all learn.

Here’s a video of the experience so far…

A video of Charlie’s arrival to Germany from Kosovo!

I just took them on their first walk. They did fine together. Charlie will be one of the locals in no time!

Health, Hessen, horses

Walking off stress after German doctors send me mail…

Yesterday, we got the letter from the German doctors who recently evaluated me, due to some lingering abdominal pain I’ve been experiencing. I wrote about the contents of the letter here. This post is about the decision we made after we read it. We had sunny weather yesterday, and the temperatures were pleasant. So we decided to take Noyzi for a walk to the “nature” area near where we live.

Now, this particular area isn’t as lovely as the Naturepark near our old home in Jettingen is. That park in Jettingen is huge, with lots of trails in the forest. This area in Breckenheim is nice, but not as rural. I don’t get the sense that it’s as easy to get lost in the woods here. It also takes longer to reach it from our house.

But, anyway, we decided to walk a couple of miles. I’m glad we did. It reminded me that I need to remember how much I like walks… and we also ran into an adorable pony who seemed kind of lonely. She whinnied at us a few times and came up to the fence as if she wanted to be petted. I wasn’t going to risk it, though, because there was an electric fence. I’ve been shocked by those a time or two.

I got pictures and video, and just seeing her put a big smile on my face and helped me forget my troubles. It also made me really miss having my own horse. I’d like to have one just for the companionship and the wonderful aroma. Horses and ponies are excellent company, especially if you have a sympathetic dog with you, too. Our dogs, Zane and Arran, would not have been nearly as cooperative as Noyzi was. They would have barked their heads off at the pony. But it seemed like Noyzi might have seen her as a kindred spirit. Indeed, he has the personality of a horse, right down to spooking when something startles him. Below is a video…

She was so sweet and friendly. She made me smile, and forget about my healthcare woes.

I took some photos from our walk, and made a note to myself to go back there more often to burn calories and dissipate stress and frustration. It’s not as pretty as the park in Jettingen is, but the park in Jettingen doesn’t have ponies in paddocks I can visit. It’s also got way more ticks, and people on horseback! But the natural area near us is close to the Autobahn, and it’s very easy to hear the sounds of cars. One good thing about our place in Jettingen is that it’s not close to the Autobahn at all.

As you can see from the photos down below, there was another paddock with a couple of mares in it. One was a horse, and the other another little pony. The smell was intoxicating. I love the smell of horses so much! But I’m sure if I told most Germans that I spent much of my childhood around horses, they wouldn’t believe me.

My own neighbor has a horse, and she didn’t believe that I used to ride until I showed her a picture of me jumping at a horse show. And even then, she didn’t even believe me when I told her I owned an Appaloosa… she thought she knew better. But then I showed her another photo of us after we won reserve champion for the state of Virginia in our division. In that photo, she could plainly see Rusty’s spots, clearly identifying him as an Appaloosa. I don’t know why some Germans seem to be like this… But I also remind myself that they aren’t all quite so “all knowing”.

*This is actually kind of a heartbreaking photo… We missed out on winning champion, because I was engaged in self-destructive eating disordered behaviors that day…* We won the first class, but the judge never saw me in the second, and we didn’t place. But we were tied for reserve champion, and won the hack off. Afterwards, the judge asked me where I was in the second class!

Anyway… photos from yesterday’s walk…

*Keep your dogs out of the wild preserve!*

When we got to our main drag, I took a few more photos, noticing all of the historic buildings in our town. We don’t usually go the route we went on yesterday. Breckenheim is a nice suburb, though. We should explore it more.

I hope I can muster the desire and energy to take more walks. I think it would help me feel better. I think COVID really did a number on us. We got used to staying home and drinking wine, instead of getting out and exercising. But I think if we take more walks and change some elements of our diets, we’ll both feel better. And then I can avoid going back to the doctor for awhile. I’d like that, because I passionately HATE going to see doctors. But, even if this most recent visit didn’t go perfectly well for me, at least the German ones didn’t freak out, the way some American doctors do. That’s definitely a plus.

Baden-Württemberg

From Wiesbaden to Horben: Pretty as a peacock…

Our last full day in Horben began with another splendid breakfast. I think it was my favorite one of the four we had there. Once again, we were greeted by the same smiling waitress, who seated us at a table that overlooked the splendid open kitchen at Luisenhöhe. After what happened the night before, I was glad to see that no one would be seated near us. The tables around us were cleared of silverware. The lady brought us our coffee and bread, then the wonderful, innovative food we had come to expect. Feast your eyes…

This was my favorite of the breakfasts. I especially liked the cheese toast and the smoked salmon.

After breakfast, we decided to drive to a town called Waldkirch. My German friend, Susanne, had recommended it. I had also seen some people posting about it in a Facebook group about the Schwarzwald. Waldkirch is maybe 35 minutes from Horben. It boasts castle ruins, a treetop trail, a silver mine, and a zoo. We decided to visit the zoo, since we both love to hang out with animals.

On our way to Waldkirch, Bill almost hit some woman who suddenly walked into the crosswalk with no warning. This is a phenomenon we’ve noticed a lot since moving to Germany… people not looking before they step into crosswalks, or before they make a turn. This particular crosswalk was not one with a “green man” to wait for. Germans will wait for the green man if there is one, but if there isn’t, people take their lives into their own hands all the time. Bill survived being run over by a car when he was 16 years old, so he is extra cautious about cars. As surprising as it was for me to see that woman step into traffic, I think it was especially scary for Bill.

When we got to Waldkirch, Bill was a bit confused as to where to park. He finally found a free spot near a sports club. To our great delight, the parking was “kostenlos”– free of charge. We walked around a bit until we found The Black Forest Zoo (Schwarzwaldzoo Waldkirch). Since it was Monday, the place wasn’t busy at all.

The very pleasant lady who gave us tickets and animal food said if we’d had a Schwarzwald card with a heart on it, we could have gotten in free of charge. We did have a card, but not one with a heart, and we left it in the car. Even if we’d brought it, I think we would have gotten a euro off of the 7,50 euro admission charge. We didn’t mind paying to get in, though. The zoo looks like it could use some funding.

The Schwarzwaldzoo is not very big and, in fact, reminded me more of a Tierpark for children. The exhibits are a bit run down and small. To see the whole thing, you have to walk up a hillside, which is a good exercise. The whole thing takes maybe an hour… two, if you take your time. But, there is a nice playground for children, you can get a snack there, and the animals look like they are well cared for, even if their enclosures could be better. There were a few empty enclosures, and some animals were hidden away. The lynx exhibit, for example, looked deserted during our visit.

However… there was one creature who made the whole visit worthwhile to me… and that was the peacock. The peacock at this zoo was showing off to the peahen, who was not at all interested in his strutting. It was hilarious to watch him fan out his beautiful tail, only to be completely ignored by his much plainer mate.

A short video featuring some of the residents at the Schwarzwaldzoo…

After our visit to the zoo, we decided to have lunch at a Biergarten located right next to it. I don’t have a lot to write about our experience at the Stadtrainsee Restaurant. The food was good, and they have a warm kitchen that doesn’t stop for a pause. However, the service was not very attentive.

This restaurant has a full service Biergarten, meaning that the wait staff brings your food and beverages to you, rather than you going and getting it from a counter. After we were greeted by one of two male servers, we made our orders. Bill had a turkey steak. I had spare ribs. After the food and round of beer were brought to us, it was impossible to get the server’s attention again.

*Bill’s turkey steak was slightly more manageable.*

What was most appalling was that Bill couldn’t even get the guy’s attention to pay the check. He went up to the counter, and even then, the guy walked away from him, either oblivious or deliberately ignoring him. I don’t understand why a person would act that way on purpose, especially if they wait tables. If you dislike a patron so much that you ignore them completely, wouldn’t you want them to hurry up and pay so they can leave?

It wasn’t a very busy day at all. There were only a few occupied tables. I watched one of the servers sit at a table and smoke a cigarette. The other seemed very preoccupied by his phone. Anyway… at least the food was good. It was more than either of us could eat. We might have taken our leftovers with us, except they charged to box it up, and we really didn’t have the means to store it, anyway. Bill didn’t even bother to give the guy a decent tip. He just rounded up, which he never does.

Anyway… after that, we decided maybe we’d visit Staufen, which isn’t that close to Waldkirch. Susanne had also recommended that town. Now that I’ve been to Staufen, I wish we’d just gone there and hung out longer. It is a very cute place, with lots of shopping and dining possibilities, as well as some pretty good buskers. I took a lot of photos and made use of the free WC in the parking lot. Unfortunately, that was all we had time to do, as we needed to get back to the hotel in time for dinner.

A little silliness and a slice of Staufen on a fine April day…

On the way back to Luisenhöhe, I took a few more photos of the very green landscape, flowering trees, and mountains. Once again, I realized why I miss living in Baden-Württemberg. It really is a beautiful part of Germany.

When we got back to the hotel, we decided to have a drink before getting dressed for dinner. The bartender, Pascal, was there. We told him how we spent the day, and he said that the buildings in Staufen were damaged in 2007, when a geothermal project went terribly wrong. Many of the buildings in Staufen date to the 16th century, but now, they are riddled with cracks. A couple of the buildings had to be torn down.

The geothermal project was meant to harness power from geothermal energy. But, to get to the source of the power, the drillers had to “perforate groundwater and a separate layer of anhydrite, a water-free chemical substance.” The process caused the groundwater to bleed into the anhydrite, which increased pressure under the buildings. The chemical reaction resulted in the formation of gypsum, which made the ground swell. Come to think of it, I did notice that there were quite a few building projects going on in Staufen. I guess they are fixing things, to the best of their ability.

Pascal was surprised we went to Waldkirch and Staufen, since they aren’t really near each other. But we had no agenda, other than to see what we could during our time in the area. Now that we’ve been to the Freiburg area, we know there’s plenty more to see.

Pascal brought me a beer and Bill another non-alcoholic cocktail called Ginger Love. He made a silly joke about a weird fetish about loving redheads. I had red hair when we met… although it came from a box.

After we had our round of beverages, we got dressed for our final dinner. Once again, we were taken care of by our Slovak friend, who was equally impressive… Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of the menu. Instead, I got a few of the kitchen.

*I do remember this was beef and veal with asparagus, Hollandaise sauce, and fennel.*

After dinner, we went to the restroom before having one last nightcap. On the way out, the Slovak waiter found us, shook our hands, and welcomed us back sometime soon. I may have to take him up on the suggestion. I bet Horben is beautiful in the fall.

In the next post, I will wrap up our visit to beautiful Horben. Stay tuned!

Hessen

I knew it couldn’t last forever…

Last night, just before bed, I ran my hands over Arran’s body. That’s when I found the enlarged lymph node near his left “armpit”. I checked his other nodes. The ones in his back legs, which were enlarged when I first found out about his lymphoma, were not swollen. I thought I could detect a little swelling in the nodes under his jaw.

It’s possible that this isn’t lymphoma roaring back to life, but I think it probably is. I’ve noticed Arran is a little shaky lately, too.

He has a vet appointment on Wednesday. It will be his 16th week, I believe… and he’s already done better on chemo than I ever thought he could. He made it to his tenth anniversary.

I don’t know how much longer he has, but I suspect his time is drawing close. I’m kind of ambivalent about it. Yes, of course, I will miss him. I love him dearly. When we lose him, it’s going to leave a huge hole. But I also miss traveling freely, even just to go out to dinner. I miss being able to sleep through the night without having to let him out or feed him. He is about 14 years old, too.

What makes this worse is that Bill has to go away again this week. I think Arran will be okay, but the new swollen lymph node gives me an ominous feeling.

On the bright side, he’s still eating and able to jump on the bed by himself. All he has right now is a little trembling and a swollen node. But I think it’s time to prepare for the inevitable. And here I was thinking, before I found that swollen node, that maybe we could get him one last dental. He definitely needs one.

Anyway, if you can spare some good vibes, I’d appreciate them. I just want it to be smooth sailing until the end.

Uncategorized

A day in a parrot paradise– Vogelburg

A couple of weeks ago, I joined a German Facebook group that offers ideas for fun day trips in and around the German state of Hesse. Actually, I joined an American run version of that group, but decided to join the German version when I noticed the group admin was mostly just reposting whatever was shared in the German group. He was adding very little original content or even a US perspective as he was resharing the German group’s content. So I decided I might as well join the German group, since locals often add information that Americans don’t have.

I know I recently mentioned that I would like to take this blog back to the way it was from 2014-2018, before we were dealt the double blow of a lawsuit with our former landlady and COVID-19. In 2019, we were new to Wiesbaden and trying to get used to our new town. Then, everything shut down for a long time, so that prevented us from exploring the way we would have, otherwise. For now, we are allowed to travel freely, but it’s taken time to get back in the mood to take day trips. Part of the reason I decided to go out today is because the weather was nice. It was sunny, but not too hot. Also, I needed to take my mind off of a threatening, harassing, message I got this morning on my now defunct Overeducated Housewife Facebook Page. One of the best ways to get me to temporarily forget about trouble is to visit animals.

Someone shared a post about Vogelburg, a sanctuary for rehomed parrots, parakeets, macaus, and cockatoos in the German Facebook group. I was intrigued, since I’d never heard of it. I showed Bill the official Web site, noted that it was open today, and we made plans to visit! The sanctuary is just north of Wiesbaden, on the way to Limburg, which is where we visited a few weeks ago. We probably could have gotten there in about 40 minutes, if not for a horrific pile up on Autobahn 3. We counted at least fifteen ambulances passing us, along with cop cars, fire engines, and the doctor’s car. The Stau held us up for about an hour, as we watched people exiting their vehicles to pee on the side of the road. It was quite frustrating, as I was also a bit hangry. However, once we got to the park, it was well worth the wait.

We paid eight euros each to enter the facility, bought some sunflower seeds, and made our way around, feeding the gentle and beautiful birds, watching them preen, listening to them communicate, and enjoying their antics. We saw one pretty cockatoo sitting on a girl’s shoulder while she petted it. Others were talking, hanging upside down, or begging for food. At first, I was nervous about feeding the birds, since there were picture signs warning about bloody fingers (see my photos). But I soon got the hang of things, and really enjoyed giving the birds treats. Quite a few of them really knew how to pour on the charm, as you can see in the video below.

Listen for the cuckoo bird!

After a couple of hours enjoying the birds, who came from all over the world, we decided to have a quick lunch at the park’s restaurant, which serves things like wurst, Frikadelle, potato salad, and cake. Bill and I both had bratwursts with potato salad. I could not finish the huge serving of potato salad, but did enjoy washing everything down with a cold Weizen beer. I did notice that the facility looked like it had been around a while and could use some refurbishment (ETA: it dates from 1981). But the birds are well cared for and very entertaining. They also have a Parrot School, which I guess is a program where visitors can learn more about the birds (ETA: My German friend says that the school is for the parrots). All of the signage is in German, though, which makes me think the “school” probably is, too.

We both left Vogelburg smiling, and I decided that we need to spend more time in this part of Hesse, which is quieter and less built up than Wiesbaden is. It reminded me a little of the lovely rural areas near Stuttgart we used to enjoy regularly when we lived down there.

This is a great activity for young children, although strollers may not be the best idea there, because there are cobblestones. They even have a cool slide at the top of the hill that kids can slide down and land in a sand pit. Plenty of adults were enjoying the park, too, as the birds are very social, healthy, and friendly! On the way out, there’s a gift shop. We didn’t stop in. This park opens every year on March 15th, and the season runs through October 31st. It’s open daily, from 10am to 6pm. Parking is free!

I’m happy to report that the drive home happened without incident– no wrecks or Staus. That’s always a plus in Germany!

A hellish Stau. We counted at least 15 ambulances.

All in all, it was a great day! I’m so glad we went to see the beautiful birds of Vogelburg today. They really helped me enjoy the day, and forget my troubles for awhile.

Hessen

Today’s garden visitor…

Early this morning, Bill let Arran out to do his business. Arran immediately alerted to the ivy covered fence on the right side of the yard. It was very early– not even 6am yet– so it wasn’t a good thing that Arran was barking so assertively. Bill brought him back inside, but Arran remained obsessed with getting outside.

I prefer to let the dogs out, if they want to go out. I’ve cleaned up too many accidents to know that it’s not a good idea to deny them the chance to pee when the need arises. But Arran and Noyzi were both still fixated on the fence line, and I didn’t want them to piss off the neighbors, so I went over to see what the issue was. There, I saw it… a humongous spiky hedgehog, curled up by the fence. It’s daytime, and hedgehogs are nocturnal animals, so I figured it might be sleeping. Still, I’m not interested in having a dead animal in my yard, so I got a shovel and gently pulled it out for a better look. It took a minute or two, but I finally saw it breathe. So, after I took a photo for posterity, I put it back where I found it, and shooed the dogs back inside.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a hedgehog in my German backyards. The first time we lived in Germany (2007-09), I had to rescue a hedgehog from the jaws of my then beagles, Flea and MacGregor. Later, when we were still living at that house, I discovered an enormous hedgehog raiding the trash. My guess is that it was the same one I saved from my beagles. I see from Facebook, that happened in August, too…

Dated August 19, 2009— just found an enormous hedgehog raiding the trash… good thing my hounds were inside.

I last saw a hedgehog in our garden in October 2020. I noticed that it lived under a platform in our yard. For all I know, this is the same creature, as according to my reading, they can live up to 7 or 8 years in the wild. I also read that August is when hedgehogs in this latitude usually give birth. Some babies are born in July or September, but in Germany, at least half are born in August. For all I know, this is a female hedgehog who is about to have babies. I sure hope she moves, though, because I don’t want my dogs trying to eat her. She’s very spiky. Or maybe it’s a he. I don’t know.

I remember seeing hedgehogs in the 70s, when my dad was stationed at Mildenhall Air Force Base in England. We moved back to the United States, and I didn’t see them again until years later, when Sonic the Hedgehog became a popular video game and people adopted them as pets. I don’t think hedgehogs are as popular to own as pets anymore. But they sure are around in the European wilderness, especially in Germany… I never saw one when we lived in Jettingen. There, we saw lots of field mice, which Arran was occasionally able to catch, even when he was on his leash (which he almost always was, since we didn’t have an adequately fenced yard). They are good to have in gardens, because they eat bugs. For that reason, I welcome our cute visitor. I’m always amazed at the things I learn as a result of living over here.

Hedgehogs were never really an issue for us in the USA. Over the course of 20 years and many different homes, we’ve had snakes, squirrels, deer, wild ducks, turtles, mice, rats, chimney swifts, groundhogs, toads, coyotes, moles, foxes, chipmunks, rabbits, and all manner of birds. But wild hedgehogs are strictly a European thing… kind of like slugs. I know there are slugs in the USA, but I never saw so many of them there as I have here. They are huge, and pretty gross. I remember our first German landlord used to put out bowls of beer to attract the slugs and drown them. I don’t take those steps myself, because I love beer and hate to waste it on killing slugs. Also, beer attracts bees, who also end up drowning.

I’m still kind of shocked by how big that hedgehog is. I’ll bet it’s a female who’s about to give birth. I’m not going to turn it over and try to look for the telltale sex organs, though. Like I said… lots of spiky quills! It’s already Monday; I don’t need any wild animal related mishaps today.

ETA: I just checked where I left the hedgehog, and it’s moved. So that’s a good thing… Hope it finds a less dangerous place to be.

Here’s a video of the hedgehog, who came out while we were eating dinner a few days later. I suspect it’s a female, about to have babies… or maybe newly postpartum.

Hessen, pandemic

Another week of not much to report…

This time of year, especially during a pandemic, is for the birds. The weather is wet, cold, and yucky. Add in the crazily contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19, and Germany’s ever changing pandemic rules, and it’s tough to keep a travel blog going.

We did have a couple of fun developments this week, though. The less exciting one is that Noyzi and Arran got baths yesterday. That may not seem like a big deal, except that it was only Noyzi’s third bath in his lifetime, and he’s already about three years old. He was getting kind of stinky. I keep watching dog grooming videos on YouTube, and the groomer is always talking about how important it is to groom one’s pets. I decided that it was time for Noyzi to get a bath, and we decided to bathe Arran, too. Now, both of them smell much better, and Noyzi’s coat is all soft and shiny. He likes baths, too, so that’s a good thing. I would hate to have to wrestle him in the tub at his size. He’s a big boy. Incidentally, Noyzi loves to watch dog grooming videos. He’s as fascinated by them as I am, although for different reasons.

The more exciting development is that my husband’s daughter found out that she’s expecting another son in a few months. She announced the gender in a really cute way… using pink and blue ice cream cups. I know she’s excited, as are Bill and his mother, who were kept out of her life for many years. I am excited too, I guess. I knew she was carrying a boy, just like I knew she was pregnant before she announced it, just because Bill had said she looked like she was glowing on a Skype call back in September.

I’m feeling a little down today, for a lot of reasons, so I’m going to keep this post short. I hope next week, I’ll be a little less depressed.

*Apparently, she’s been craving pickles a lot.*

Charlie and Noyzi

Our pandemic dog rescue story… part five

So there we were on a rainy Saturday in beautiful Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. We ate sandwiches and drank local beer as Meg updated us on her progress. She had left Kosovo at about 7:30am and promptly encountered an hour long wait at the Serbian border. I have never been to Kosovo or Serbia, but evidently, it is a very Muslim populated area and Muslims typically aren’t very fond of dogs. Noizy saw some street dogs at the border and barked at them. Next thing Meg knew, a whole bunch of street dogs were attacking her vehicle. Consequently, she decided to sedate Noizy.

Meg is a very well connected person in the former Yugoslavia. She lived and worked in Kosovo and Croatia and can speak some of the language. A vet kindly hooked her up with some squirtable medication. It looked like the type of container I had seen used for horse wormers. You squirt a little in the dog’s mouth and it’s nap time. Evidently, that’s what happened with Noizy. He was soon down for the count, which I’m sure was a blessing, given what came later.

As Meg crossed over into Croatia some hours later, her car began to run funny. She got warning lights indicating that the transmission may be failing. Meg was upset, because she had taken her car to a dealer to have it checked– an Urlaub exam– and it had passed with flying colors. Now, here she was with three dogs, about four hours from her final destination, and the car was acting up. She pulled off at a gas station just beyond a construction zone where the car had been running slowly, got some gas, took the dogs out for a pee, and decided it was time to call ADAC (German auto club). Unfortunately, Meg doesn’t have ADAC Plus, which offers service all over Europe, so they couldn’t help her.

Bill, who was fretting about having to drive all day Sunday to make it to the Monday morning court appearance (that turned out to be for naught), said to me, “I think this is going to turn into a rescue mission”. Meanwhile, Anne and Kyle, who had also come down from Germany to get dogs, were asking Meg if she needed them to come get her.

At this point, I remembered how, back in December 2019, Bill and I were unexpectedly stuck in Beaune, France, because some asshole decided to puncture our brand new tire while we were at a rest stop. We also had to call ADAC. Fortunately, we have ADAC Plus. I am writing this to remind any Americans who are reading this and live (and drive) in Europe to make sure you have auto club coverage AND it covers you everywhere. We have had to use ADAC at least twice during our three tours in Germany and it definitely pays for itself when they bail you out of a vehicular mechanical nightmare in a strange town.

So, the hours stretched on, and it became clear that we wouldn’t be fetching Noizy on Saturday night, as planned. Bill asked Meg if he needed to come to her, but thankfully Anne and Kyle were able to spend another day, plus they’re a lot younger than we are. So they went to convoy with Meg… she followed them with the dogs and they finally arrived in Kranjska Gora at about 5:00am. Incidentally, that also reminds me of the time Bill and I, and his mom, got stuck in Italy and spent all night trying to come back to Germany, where our hotel room was. Yep… this kind of shit easily happens in Europe. We still talk about that situation, even though it happened in July 2009.

While I’m not glad that Meg’s car had problems, I am glad that we were able to get Noizy on Sunday morning instead of Saturday night. I didn’t know quite how large he is, nor did I know how Arran would react to him. He’s also still working on his leash training. It would have been a challenge having him in such close quarters with Arran the first night, especially in a place where walls are shared. However, he has been a gentleman since we brought him home. Arran keeps his distance, but I think he’ll eventually come around.

We spent Saturday night watching for news of Meg’s progress– she had a bunch of people offering advice. I am thoroughly impressed by her ability to make helpful connections!

*Saturday night’s dinner. It was a good pizza, but I can probably do without ham for a good long while now.*

At about 7:30am on Sunday, I sent Meg a message that we were on our way to her. She was staying at a little gasthaus outside of the town. It looked really nice. In fact, I think I would have preferred it to where we stayed. There was a nice field behind it where people were doing early morning yoga as we approached. I watched one guy do a headstand.

Meg was standing in the parking lot with Noizy, who was a striking sight. He’s a very tall dog… much taller than any of our others by far. And he has bold coloring. It made for a brilliant appearance with the mountain backdrop and fall colors. This was also the first time I had ever seen Meg, too. She turned out to be different than I was expecting.

When I was growing up, I had a neighbor from Pennsylvania who reminded me a lot of Meg and I had imagined her to look like my old neighbor. As it always happens when I form a mind’s eye, the picture I had in my head didn’t match my imagination.

We parked the car and I got Arran out. He went up to Noizy and gave him a sniff, then moved off to smell all of the other stuff. Bill took Noizy’s leash, but it appeared that Noizy was pretty scared of Bill. He backed up wildly. I was really glad he was in a harness. I heard the rush of water and was curious, so I took Arran to see where it was coming from. I also got a video of Arran and Noizy meeting. It wasn’t quite as magic as when Arran met Zane, but at least there wasn’t any bloodshed!

I could tell that Meg was very sad to give Noizy up. She has a very deep and special bond with him, having raised him from the time he was a tiny puppy. When I see Noizy now and compare him to pictures of him as a puppy, I’m reminded of a very cheesy cartoon from my childhood called Dinky Dog. This could be the story of Noizy’s life!

This theme seems a bit influenced by The Brady Bunch.

A local lady seemed keen to talk to us as we were getting to know Noizy. I’ve got to hand it to Meg, who rather firmly but kindly asked her to leave us alone as we got acquainted and worked to get Noizy loaded up and ready to go. I think some tears were shed by Meg and Noizy. He’s clearly very special to her and I am honored that she allowed us to add him to our family.

Because Noizy seemed really nervous, we gave him a little more sedative, enough to take the edge off for a couple of hours. Then we loaded him into the back of the Volvo. He fit perfectly and slept for most of the way back, even after the drug wore off. We didn’t hear a peep from him or even see him. He was very content to nap the whole way back. He’s a good traveler.

Our pandemic dog rescue story… part three

When we take trips, I usually take a lot of photos, even from the car. Before a couple of weeks ago, I had never heard of Kransjka Gora, and had no idea of what we were in for. I did remember how beautiful Lake Bled was and had been wanting to visit Slovenia again. But Bill and I are getting older and it’s hard to drive for seven or eight hours straight, so that means it’s best if we can break up the trip. And, as most Americans know, there’s only so much leave a person can take. When Bill worked for his first company, the pay wasn’t as good, but they were very generous about letting him take time off. His current employer pays very well, but it’s not as easy to go away for longer trips. Not that we’re complaining. Six years ago, when we first came to Germany, I still owed $40,000 on my student loans. I managed to pay them off two years ago, nine years ahead of time!

While I usually like to take a lot of photos on our trips, I was more preoccupied this time. I didn’t think to take any pictures until we stopped for lunch at a KFC. German KFC is not like American KFC. And American KFC is not like the Kentucky Fried Chicken of my youth, which used to be a lot better than it is now. We decided to stop for chicken, even though it’s not as quick and convenient as other fast food is. I was kind of astonished by the rest stop where we pulled off. It had an amazing assortment of choices, especially for Germany. There was a McDonald’s, a Burger King, a KFC and a Subway!

And right next to the Subway was an enormous “adult” book store, complete with blow up dolls outside the entrance! I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the erotic book store. I wish I had. In the United States, the adult book stores aren’t quite as prominent as they are in Germany, although I do remember repeatedly passing Club Risque in North Carolina many times as I drove back and forth from Virginia to South Carolina to and from graduate school.

I guess the erotic book stores are intended for the lonely truckers who traverse Germany from all over Europe, especially the East. I notice that they are well catered to in this country. Many rest stops have showers, as well as pay toilets that are clean. Where I come in the States, the rest stops are a little bit nicer than the free ones in Europe, which are really bare bones. But they don’t usually have restaurants (except in the Northeast). In Europe, the rest stops that aren’t just a place to pee have restaurants, fully stocked convenience stores, gas stations, and yes, something for the truckers who need a little distraction from the road.

Lunch was pretty filling. We ate it in the car, mainly due to having Arran with us and because of COVID-19. I watched people going in and out of the restaurant, ignoring the request to exit from the opposite side of the entrance. I also noticed in the ladies room, that someone had dumped pasta all over the bathroom floor. I couldn’t tell if it was cooked or not. It was an odd sight.

Once we got lunch sorted, we got back on A3 and headed south. I had forgotten how long the drive to Austria by way of Salzburg is. It seems to take forever to cross the border because you have to keep going east. I always enjoy driving over borders, but on this first day of our trip, we were about 90% in Germany before we arrived in Salzburg. We made another quick stop at an excellent rest stop not far from the border so Bill could buy an Austrian vignette (toll sticker). They are required for the Autobahn and you can buy them for ten days at just under 10 euros.

That’s another interesting thing about Europe. Many countries over here either have systems where you either pay for a vignette to use the motorways or you pay tolls. In Switzerland, you buy a sticker for the year and it costs about $40 (40 Swiss Francs or 30 Euros). In other countries, they are for shorter time periods and cost less. Many of the countries that have vignettes also have tolls for when you go through a long mountain pass. Germany is the only country I’ve seen so far where the Autobahn is free. But we don’t know for how much longer it will be free. Of course, you still have to pay 70 cents to use the bathroom at the fancy rest stops. That’s why it’s not at all unusual to see people peeing on trees here. They’re pretty brazen about it, too.

The proprietors at the Haslachmühle B&B had requested that we check in by 6:00pm. We arrived there at about 5:30pm, having driven through Salzburg’s traffic and passed by a guy driving a carriage pulled by two white horses. The horses spooked Arran, who barked and startled us both. I wish I’d had my camera, though. Those horses were a lovely sight.

So… about that B&B. It’s a winner. Getting to it is a little bit tricky, since it’s located on a very narrow “goat trail” type of road. But it’s a very charming place, with six unique rooms and a small free parking lot for guests. The lady in charge, along with her very sweet female dachshund “Luezy” (pronounced as if you were rhyming it with “noisy”), met us as we pulled up. She was quick to check us in and show us to the beautiful room I rented for the night. We stayed in the Room City View, which was just awesome. It had a big bed, a huge balcony that offered a view of the city, and a gorgeous masonry heater. I especially loved how the walls had built in bookshelves loaded with books (in German, of course). It was really unique and lovely. I was sorry we could only stay one night.

We were tired from the drive and still full from lunch, so we had no need for dinner. However, the B&B has a fridge where guests can get wine, beer, or soft drinks, as well as snacks. You just write down what you took and pay on checkout. Our room came with two bottles of water (looked like they came from a Penguin), mini Ritter Sports on the pillows, and three apples. Adding in some crackers and wine, we were pretty much set for the night. I enjoyed watching the sun set over the mountain. We also watched some network TV, which we rarely have the chance to do.

If we had needed food, we could have ordered from Lieferando.at or, if we were feeling determined, driven into town. There aren’t any restaurants near the B&B that I could see.

Breakfast in the morning included the usual buffet spread, with cheeses, cold cuts, fruits, juices, and breads. The proprietor made us coffee and scrambled eggs. While we were eating, Arran started pitching a fit. We hadn’t brought him into the breakfast room. I was very pleased to see that the proprietor didn’t mind Arran’s howling and even said we could bring him into the breakfast room, which we ended up doing. Another couple also had a dog with them and Arran behaved like a perfect gentleman.

After a leisurely breakfast, we loaded up the car and checked out. I would definitely go back to Die Haslachmühle B&B, next time without any canines. However, I am happy to report that they are very welcome there, even if children aren’t (according to Booking.com, anyway). We weren’t even charged extra for Arran. I was expecting a pet fee, so that was a really nice surprise. Below are some more photos from our stop in Salzburg. It really is a beautiful city. I would love to go back and do another tour of it when we don’t have business to attend to.

*Bill was impressed by the “erotic literature”.*

By late morning, we were heading south to Slovenia, which isn’t that far from Salzburg. I think it was about a three hour drive. I managed to get a few pictures of castles from the side of the Autobahn… again impressive sights. We really should come down and actually visit sometime. We had a chance to tour Salzburg when we did our very first Space A hop from the USA back in 2012, but that was just a day trip that we took from Munich. We had a great time, but it wasn’t long enough. Time to look into visiting again. We’ve been to Salzburg three times and still haven’t done the Sound of Music tour. 😉

More on the drive to Slovenia in the next post.

Rheinland-Pfalz

Post pandemic trip number two– Eagles and wolves and goats, oh my!

Saturday morning, we decided that after breakfast, we would visit Gerolstein, the land of famous bubbly water that drew me to the Eifel in the first place. After taking the slow elevator to the reception area of the hotel, we walked into the hotel’s restaurant/bar area and found our assigned table, still with its personalized ceramic nameplate. I ripped off my mask, and Bill fetched some Brötchen. A lady came around to take our preferred hot beverage order. We got a Kännchen of coffee, and I put the mask back on for a trip to the buffet. I was actually kind of surprised that they were doing a buffet breakfast, given that so many practices have been altered due to the virus. I did notice that the staff was rather strict about the mask use. One guy was kindly but firmly reminded as he approached the buffet. He dutifully put the mask on and went looking for his morning Wurst.

Besides the usual breads, cheeses, sausages, smoked salmon, and fruit offered for breakfast at a lot of German hotels, the Hotel Zur Post in Meerfeld also offers hard boiled eggs. Bill and I had them all three mornings and they were perfectly done. Bravo to them for that. When we were in Strasbourg, France back in February, I was served an almost raw egg at breakfast. I was pretty grossed out by it. But that place made up for the egg fiasco by also having really excellent brownies at breakfast.

We weren’t totally sure what we were going to end up doing after we visited Gerolstein, so Bill and I took along our bathing suits. I knew that I wanted to visit the Vulkaneifel Therme in Bad Bertrich at some point, and I wasn’t sure when we’d do that. The trip to Gerolstein took us in the opposite direction of where we’d need to go to get to the Therme, but you never know when you’ll run into a good swimming hole.

The drive to Gerolstein from Meerfeld was extremely pretty. We even pulled over so I could take a few pictures of the stunning countryside. I also played around a bit with the features on my digital camera, which doesn’t get used as often as my iPhone camera does.

This picture was pretty enough… but in person, it was even more beautiful.

As we were heading toward our destination, I read a news article about a German “Rambo” who was on the loose in Oppenau last week. I mentioned in a previous post that we were once in Oppenau and needed to call for help, but were unable to get a cell signal. We had just visited the Allerheiligen Wasserfälle (All Saints Waterfalls), which are located in the Black Forest near Oppenau, when we came upon a motorcycle accident. A group of bikers had come around a sharp corner too fast and one of them went over the side of the road. It must have happened literally minutes before we encountered it. One of the bikers asked if he could use my phone to call an ambulance. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no cell signal whatsoever.

I was reminded of that lack of cell coverage when we were in the Eifel, but I was reminded of Oppenau because my German friend told me about the German Rambo guy… a heavily armed reclusive man named Yves Rausch who was running amok near Oppenau after having held up four German police officers and stolen their weapons several days prior. As we were headed toward Gerolstein, I read about how he’d been “rolled up” by the police… Oppenau would not have been a bad place to visit over the weekend. It’s very beautiful there, too… but no longer so close to get to as it was when we lived near Stuttgart.

We found a public parking lot near Gerolstein’s Kyllpark, which is notably good for kids. We didn’t plan to visit this park; it’s just where we happened to land. I was kind of delighted by it and got some pictures on a walk Bill and I took. It’s been too long since we took a walk in nature, although if I were going to plan a nature walk, I probably wouldn’t necessarily start with the Kyllpark, unless I had children with me. Bill, of course, has a big kid with him at all times… 😉 Here are some photos.

If you’re feeling brave, you can cross the river on these strategically placed rocks.

After our walk, we headed into town and walked around a bit. I needed to pee and did see a sign for a WC, but never ended up finding it. It was close to lunchtime, so I thought maybe we’d have lunch in Gerolstein. But we ended up just walking around some more, taking in the sights. At one point, we stopped for a rest and social media break and I started talking to Bill… then got off on a ranting tangent. He gave me this face…

I finally said, “Let’s move along, so you can recover your dignity…” I am very lucky to have a husband who indulges me so much.

I got some more photos of Gerolstein, which is, in fact, a nice little town with plenty of things to do… but I’m kind of glad we stayed in Meerfeld, because it was a lot prettier and its location forced us to move around the area more. Staying in a town like Gerolstein would have been very convenient. Maybe too convenient… There’s a lot to do in and around Gerolstein, though, and we would come back for another visit.

This was a small shrine on the corner of a building, which didn’t appear to have anything to do with religion… I was puzzled.

I never did manage to find a toilet before we got back in the car. Luckily, we picked a direction that took us right past the Gerolsteiner water plant… and up the hill to the Eagle and Wolf Park at Kasselburg Castle. I was pretty glad to see it, since this was another place we’d hoped to encounter during our trip. We were lucky enough to run into it by chance, and wonder of wonders, it had a place for me to pee in private. An added bonus was the amazing castle, as well as seeing animals. I love going to animal parks, especially if I get to feed the animals, too. This particular park is very well kept and offers stunning views as well as fun animals!

The Eagle and Wolf park costs 9 euros per adult and 6,50 euros per child over age 4. However, they do offer family cards for 35,00 euros, as well as group rates and special admissions fees for people in certain categories, such as the disabled. Dogs are not allowed, and there is a snack bar in the park, as well as an adjacent restaurant that one can visit before or after visiting.

We weren’t allowed to go into the imposing tower on the grounds, which suited me fine, since I can guarantee many steps were involved. However, we did walk around the castle ruins and visit the birds of prey/raptors. Some of them were a little depressing to look at, if I’m honest. They were completely still in their cages with lanyards attached to their legs. I was prepared for that, having read reviews on TripAdvisor about a similar place in Kintzheim, France. Some reviewers commented on the birds being attached to lanyards and the people who run the French Eagle Park explained that after eating, raptors sit motionless on their perches for hours. I also know that the birds are trained and do flight shows almost every day, so they do get to fly… and some of the birds were a little more animated, too. I got a kick out of a pair of randy owls in the palais area who kept flirting and cleaning each other’s feathers. The owls were not attached to lanyards, as they don’t tolerate them. They were aviaries and were more active. They all looked healthy.

Although my stomach was growling a little, we ended up walking the long way through the park, visiting the wolves. This Kasselburg park has Timber wolves and a couple of Arctic wolves. I saw the Timber wolves napping and I caught sight of one of the Arctic wolves, who was on the move, so I didn’t get a good picture. They also had wild boars, who were clustered together rooting around and eating something…. probably worms.

I was pretty grateful when we finally encountered the deer, which visitors are welcome to feed. You can buy a box of food from the machines at just one euro each. It’s worth it to interact with the very friendly and adorable goats, deer, ponies, and geese. Here are some photos of our visit to the park… which took us on a six mile hike. Been awhile since I last did that, and I must admit, it wore me out.

Just after we left the woods, we heard what sounded a little like donkeys braying… but I knew they weren’t donkeys. It wasn;t until we rounded the corner that I saw the source of the hubbub. A small group of deer were standing in the shade. I’m not sure if they were fighting or fucking, but they were sure making some noise! I think it might have been the first time I have ever heard deer making animal noises. I didn’t have much time to think about that, though, because I was soon met by my first beggar of many…

This sweet deer was politely asking for food…

By the time we were finished feeding the animals, we were definitely ready for refreshment. So we went next door to the Restaurant Forsthaus Kasselburg, which offers traditional German food and beautiful views. It was a good place to stop for refueling. In fact, we were so well fed that we managed to skip dinner on Saturday night…

You can reach this restaurant by footpath or an entrance in the park near the castle. If you leave the park, though, your visit is over. This restaurant isn’t part of the attraction.

The restaurant offered reasonable prices, as well as a fun “sprinkler show” in the dining room, complete with cheesy Muzak. That’s really the only way I can describe it. It looked like the indoor dining room had a stage, and there were sprinklers in front of it, along with lights. I’m sure when the weather is less beautiful, the inside is nice to dine in. No one was eating inside, though… better for virus protection. I noticed that besides contact tracing (leaving your name, address, and phone number) and wearing masks, this restaurant also routed access to the bathrooms so you go in and out through different doors, thereby lessening the chance of exposure to the virus or other people.

By the time we were finished with lunch, it was mid afternoon, and we were pretty tired. I wanted to go swimming in the hotel’s awesome spa pool and visit the Meerfelder Maar close up. More on that in the next post.

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

Tag Archives: animals