It was a disappointment, but the shipping company will fix it. I just hope they pay for a rental while it's getting fixed because we don't have another mode of transportation and I really don't feel like being car-less again.
We've been staying local and doing some sight seeing. There is alot to see around Heidelberg and in close driving distance. I'm happy that there is plenty to see and do in Germany because the Army makes you jump several hurdles in order to travel to any other countries in Europe. In a previous blog I wrote about the government passports, which are only good to get you in to Germany. In order to travel out of it and around Europe you have to purchase your own passport (which is the EXACT same thing except that there isn't a page stamped saying it's only to be used for unrestricted access into Germany.) I have a passport that is good until 2014, but we have to buy 3 more for all the boys, and one each for Morgan and Susan. If the passports weren't enough, now it turns out our drivers licenses are only good for driving in Germany. After sitting through the two hour class and taking the test, you have to get another license to drive in the rest of Europe, an international license. It seems to me that, if they are going to make us go through the inconvenience of being forced to live in a foreign country, they could at least make it easier for us to travel. Why not get both the licenses in the same day, or better yet, get one license that includes driving on post, in Germany, and the rest of Europe.
So today, Sunday, we decided to take a local excursion and drive down the Neckar River. There is a road called Castle Road (Burgenstrasse) that runs from Manheim to Prague and will take you past around 70 castles and fortresses. We stopped and got Maddox some german Capri Sun for the trip. I find it far less sweet than the american kind and like it much better.
I typed the name of the road into the GPS and it was a little rocky getting to it. I thought it was going to take us to downtown Heidelberg and follow the river around, but it ended up taking us over some mountains. We got in an argument because I told Ben to turn around go back to Heidelberg and he insisted on following the GPS up the hill and around winding roads. I was giving him the silent treatment because all I could picture was us ending up lost somewhere and me getting carsick from the constant curves. I took some pictures of some cute german neighborhoods, despite my protest.
At one point we came out of the woods and there was Neckarsteinach and it's 4 castles perched high on the hillside towering over the little city.
(Some photos didn't turn out very well because of the fog and glare from the sun - the sun sets very early here.)
It was rather chilly, but the sun was out so we decided to park the car and walk up to one of the castles. This was the only one we visited because of the weather, but we plan on returning to walk amongst the other 3 in the springtime. I did not do much research on this destination because it was a spur of the moment trip, but I did find out that these castles are from the 12th and 13th century. The path to the castle was steep and rocky, but Maddox, being Mr. Independent, insisted on walking by himself. We made it up at a slow and steady pace.
A man was kind enough to take our picture on the way down (too bad he cut out Carson.)
Maddox and Ben went to the top of the tower.
I stayed down below with Carson (I am the little red dot, if that gives you an idea of how high they were)
The view from the top.
Thick, stone walls
My boys :) Maddox is such a ham.
I have to find out what this statue is all about (I'll post when I know).
Don't know about this one yet, either.
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