Italian Food, A Nightclub, & Another Post

First of all, we would like to say thank you to all our family and friends who are reading our blog! We really hope this blog can be a way to follow along with our adventures in Europe. Our only real adventure, since arriving, has been getting settled into this new country. We will be planning our travels as soon as we get settled.

We have been getting out of our hotel room and exploring the surrounding areas. On Friday, Tim spent the morning in-processing. He needed to enroll us in this particular Tricare system (medical), made sure finance details were straight, and picked up a fuel card. The fuel card is a post in itself. In the evening, we drove to Steinfels. It is a small town close to post where Tim’s friends from Fort Polk reside. They gave us a tour of their home and then all four of us were off to Weiden (pronounced Viden). Weiden is one of the larger towns in the area. Here is a link to city’s website http://www.weiden-oberpfalz.de/index_en.php. It took us some time to find a parking spot. I better practice my parallel parking skills because I have feeling I am going to need them in Europe. Once we found a spot, we headed over a cobblestone alley way to an Italian restaurant named Piccola Luana. I know what you are thinking… We are in Germany and eating Italian. But let me tell you this. This Italian restaurant compares nothing to Italian food in the US. Everything was homemade and utterly delicious. I enjoyed a fresh green salad with the sweetest vinaigrette along with a calzone that blew me out of the water. Tim had a similar salad however with fresh tuna and a deluxe mini pizza that had slices of egg, banana peppers, ham, salami, and tomato. And of course, we enjoyed some German beer. The beer I had was better than my beer several days ago. I am hopeful that one day I will find a German beer I love more than Bud Light. We finished the meal with a complimentary shot of Italian Brandy. As we were leaving, the owner, who was also our waiter, shook our hands. Plus I even got a kiss on each cheek. We will be going there again! Oh and just a tidbit, do you know that you don’t tip with your meal in Germany (I am not quite sure if that is also true in other countries in Europe.)? They find it offensive and the best compliment is to return to their restraunt.

After such a wonderful meal plus the alcohol, the couple wanted to take us to a local bar. We waited in a short line to be admitted where we paid 3 euros each to proceed. When we entered the main floor, we were surprised to find that the majority of the attendees were young. Yes, I know Tim and I are young but I am not being overdramatic. We were easily 8 years older than 90% of the population especially since the drinking age is 19. But they were even admitting “kids” younger than 19 but just not allowing them to drink. Obviously we went on “teen night”. What was even funnier was that fact the main floor resembled a junior high dance. The girls were literally on one side of the room and the boys on the other. Tim and I felt like lame chaperones so we decided to call it a night.

Also known as "Joe's".

On our way home, the couple wanted to try out their new GPS. It wasn’t until we were in the middle of a forest with their GPS stating “You have arrived at your destination” that we all started laughing hysterically. Basically when they sat up their satellites, they accidently entered the wrong coordinates for “Home”. Luckily we were not too far from home and found our way back. Tim made the comment that if we were in the United States in this situation, he would be scared. However in South East Germany, forests are extremely common. What a night!

Today was morning we relaxed. We slept until 11am because of how late we were out last night. We decided to head to another military post close by. Our post and this post are basically sister posts and there are several amenities that only one of them has. So we spent time at the PX walking around and there are several German vendors who are already selling their Christmas products. We can’t wait to attend the Christmas markets that have even more of a variety. Then we headed over to the gym. They are starting to create a CrossFit area. The idea of CrossFit does not fit an ordinary gym and several things are needed for a workout. So we are really excited that Graf is developing their CrossFit area and we plan on “CrossFitting” once we get into our daily routine. The best part of the day for me was easily driving the Mercedes rental car on the German roads. And I don’t think I made Tim nervous once!

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I believe we are settling in the new country quite well. I still feel rather intimidated with the language. It sounds like a jumbled mess when the natives speak. However I plan on getting back into Rosetta Stone shortly and know that I can practice my German with the natives daily. Tomorrow we are headed to another town for sightseeing and Italian food!

Auf Wiedersehen (Goodbye! in German)