This past Saturday ended up being a lovely day trip with Jenna, Al, and Terry. Others were going to go with us to Idar-Oberstein, but they canceled last minute. Because it was only four people going total, Terry just drove us in her car. Awesome!Idar-Oberstein is a quaint, charming town not too far from Baumholder. It is known for its gem mining and stone cutting. Needless to say there is a lot of jewelry there. And a lot of knick knacks made of rock... Anyhow, it's a quaint little place with a lot of shopping. I bought a couple jewelry items, one being a pretty amethyst ring for 29 euros, a pair of boots, and a long, super cute sweater jackety thing. Great deals on everything. It was a fun morning.
Besides the shopping, there is a church, Felsenkirche, built into the side of a mountain/hill/rock. It was constructed during 1482-1484. Al and I hiked up to it, but it's closed from November through mid-March. It was still really neat to see. Maybe when my dad visits at the end of April/beginning of May we can go there and go inside. I've heard it's pretty cool.
There are also two medieval castle remains if you hike up further. One is only a tower left, for the most part, called Burg Bosselstein.
The castle that is highest up has more left of it--Schloss Oberstein. Both are really sweet and you can see great views of Idar-Oberstein. Schloss Oberstein has a seasonal restaurant in it.
We ate lunch at a place called Cafe am Markt, where are enjoyed sandwiches and dessert for really inexpensive prices.
After lunch we decided to drive to Bernkastle-Kues, which we thought was much closer. The drive was up high in altitude with some of the most beautiful scenery and views I have ever scene. It was classically German. The ground was covered with snow, every small town we went through had a tall church steeple, the tall Black-forest-like trees had snow on them, the groves of fir trees were covered with snow. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a photograph. It exists now only in my memory. The drive closer to Berkastel-Kues, though, was down the mountain. I have never been on such windy roads, especially on a decline. The curves were so sharp, it was like doing u-turn after u-turn after u-turn. It was kind of scary, but definitely an experience everyone should have. As we arrived in Bernkastel-Kues it looked eerily like Trier. Terry informed Al, who was running the GPS, "If we're in Trier, I'm going to beat the shit outta you!" It was hilarious.
We were not able to stay long Bernkastle-Kues because it was farther from Baumholder than we thought, and Terry didn't want to drive on the windy mountain roads in the dark, considering it gets dark around 5:30 here. After seeing the medieval castle remains high up on the hill as we stood along the Mosel River with a lovely swan floating infront of us, we hit the windy, German roads again for the drive back to Baumholder. This all never would have happened without Terry's GPS, who gladly informed us of the 900 approaching round-abouts and if we needed to turn around as soon as possible. It was a fun trip. The drive home was hysterical. Terry was being hilarious and informed us we were seeing the "True Terry." Jenna, Terry, and I had a ball.
We stopped at a gas station on the way home to fill up. Jenna bought me a Coke, a Cherry Coke (my first German Cherry Coke!), and some chocolate--she owed me five euros from earlier. I must say the Cherry Coke is not as good as usual. I think the Cherry flavor is stronger, which I liked, but the Coke here tastes different, so I didn't like the cherry mixed with this certain Coke as well. But it was still good. And German chocolate is fabulous.
When we got back to base, we ate dinner at the DFAC (dining facilities). That was where I'd eaten lunch on Friday. The mess hall, essentially. This time I got the standard cheeseburger, mashed potatoes, and Fanta and it was good. We sat next to a 28-year-old soldier, Jay. He was a nice, young, open-minded man who had been in Iraq. Because he'd just gotten back, he will not be deployed to Afghanistan like 99% of the rest of the soldiers on base. We did ask him what he thought about the U.S. being in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he feels like we are needed there. They did not have any kind of structure in Iraq and now they are starting to have some. He also said that because of Americans being there, the Iraqi citizens see how they have been living and that life can be so much better. He thinks it's good we are there. He also admitted that Afghanistan is much worse and more dangerous. What a situation we are in.
Sunday involved sleeping in until 11:30 and walking into Baumholder for no reason. It was a good weekend.
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