Little America in Germany

Tal and I were amazed at how many people spoke English in this part of Germany around the Ramstein base. It really is little America. Some restaurants even accept USD! I use my German more in Switzerland than I did there - and I don't use it often.

On Saturday, we went to Luxembourg, Luxembourg. Our first stop: The American WWII Cemetery. It is technically on American soil as it was given to America after WWII. It was cool to be "in America" for a bit. It was snowing, but sunny at times while we were there. It created a peaceful mood in which time seemed to stand still. It also reminded us of the climate the soldiers faced in times of war. About 5,000 soldiers are buried there many of which died in the Battle of the Bulge (not to be confused with the battle my dad claims he's fighting right now). On a more serious note, it was really interesting and humbling to see all the names on the crosses & stars and to think of the sacrifice they made for our freedom.





Several of the graves had Jewish stars instead of crosses and every now and again, you'd come across a grave that didn't have a name, but instead, it read: "Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God."


This is General Patton's grave, which stands at the front of the cemetery, as though still leading his men.


This is a map of the troops during WWII, the red is the U.S. It was amazing to see how much the U.S. really did save Europe and possibly the world from the rule of Hitler and the Nazis.


The next stop on our tour was the city of Luxembourg. It is very clean and has some similarities to Zurich. We ate some much needed Chinese food for lunch and then had some amazing pastries and chocolate that rivaled Switzerland's.




Here's the one guard keeping watch of their equivalent to the White House in Washington, D.C.
They were having a "New Orleans meets Luxembourg" jazz festival that day so there were American flags hanging and jazz music playing in the main square. Let's just say we saw the American flag more times this trip than we have in the past year.

After visiting Luxembourg we drove on to Trier. Trier is known as the oldest city in Germany, founded in 16 B.C. Some Trierians actually claim the city was founded in 2000 B.C. by Neanderthals. While there is some evidence of ancient peoples in the area there is nothing that suggests it was a true settlement until 16 B.C. When we got there it was raining so we wrapped the babes up in warm clothing, stuck them in waterproof strollers and headed out. They were asleep within minutes and stayed that way the whole time. Here's how Tally managed the umbrella & the stroller - by sticking it inbetween the backpack and his back.


Many things about this city appeared pink, which I noticed while we were there, but really showed in the pictures.



We saw "La Porta Nigra" which is a large Roman gate so named in the Middle Ages by the darkened color of the stone.


We also ventured into a large Catholic Cathedral which we later learned dates back to Roman times. Claims by the Catholic church suggest this Cathedral houses the Holy Tunic of Christ, a seamless robe possibly worn by Christ during the Crucifixion. In John 19:23 - 24 we read of how soldiers cast lots to determine who would have this robe after Jesus' death and in so doing fulfilled the prophesy in Psalms 22:18. Of course it is impossible to know if the tunic inside this Cathedral truly is the Tunic of Christ scince no Scientific study has been done to determine even the age of the garment. It is quite sacred to the Catholic Church though as the robe is only exhibited every 10 - 20 years. The last viewing took place in 1996 when over 1,000,000 pilgrims came to glimpse it.

After seeing the Cathedral we toured through the rest of the town. We saw what looked like Barbie's dream house, but it was the Kurfurstliches Plais (Electoral Palace), which might have been beautiful had a different color been chosen. We then saw the Roman imperial baths which are the largest baths outside of Rome itself.


Once we had seen the baths we decided to head back to the car. Of course on the way we had to stop for hot chocolate. We didn't end up finding Karl Marx's house or the Roman amphitheater. We were lucky to see what we did considering the downpour!

On our way home, we were separated from Mike & Anna so we pulled over to grab my phone out of the trunk. I had to snap a few photos (to Tally's disappointment) while I was out. Although snowy at times, our drive through Germany was so pretty! These are solar panels and wind turbines. They looked gorgeous blanketed in snow.




Kelsey and Jay took a bath together and Jay actually enjoyed it...after a bit of coaxing. I think he saw Kelsey playing with his toys and wanted to reclaim them. He ended up having so much fun he didn't want to get out! Kelsey enjoyed having a friend at bath time - she's never had that before!


To see more pictures of the trip, click here.