New Flat

The blog posts have taken to infrequency partly due moving into a new flat and partly due to my laziness.  Na ja (oh well).  If you are interested, I'll take you on a quick tour of our new flat.

Here is the entry as you enter the front (and only) door.

Straight ahead is one of the bedrooms.  The other bedroom is just to the left.  Here is the girls' bedroom.

The phrase "if I don't get those 15 minutes of sleep, I'm a hot mess" was spoken from this room by my 8 year old daughter.  Missing is the usual area rug consisting of dirty clothes and legos.

As you turn left from the entrance, you enter the dining room and kitchen.  The kitchen has all the kitcheny kind of stuff.

Living Room

 
Our favorite part of the flat is the balcomy.  The living room and one of the bedrooms has a door to the balcony.  Here is the view from the balcony.

I have to give props to the bathroom.  It has all the bathroomy things.

My daughters redecorated the flat as I was carrying boxes up from the van.  All their stuffed animals found there way onto the display shelves.  They are still there.

A Word of Caution (Vorsicht)

Thus far I have focused on the good things about Germany.  But, there are also some bad things about Germany.  Last night I discovered one of the bad things.  I want you to know so you do not make the same mistake. 

It took shape during an innocent evening in the city of Bamberg with my family.  We were approached by a stranger and she asked us what we wanted to order for dinner.  I said "Calamari bitte".   The bad part of Germany came in the form of luke warm Calamari on my dinner plate.  Now I hesitate to speak of this because I know the Calamari community is sensitive.  If you were to interview a group of young, aspiring Calimari (Calamarichen as one may say in Germany), or better yet take a Gallup pole, you would find the majority of Calamari dream of being served breaded with a spicy pepper sauce at Carrabba's restaurant.  A well kept secret in the Calamari community is that a few unfortunate Calamari end up at a Bamberg Italien restaurant looking like some kind of noodle bathing in non-spicy, spicy tomato sauce.  Schade (what a pity).

Beware of Calamari posing as a noodle.  It won't end well.

Tear Down that Wall

Imagine going to sleep in the town you live in and waking up the next morning forbidden to contact or visit your neighbors or family across town.  I think the townsfolk of Modlareuth, Germany had a little more warning than that, but not much before they were forbidden to cross the river which became the division between East and West.  The river cut right through the town.  This tiny river over time and escalating tensions became an impenetrable wall separating not friend from foe but friend from friend.

With successful escapes brought more security to the wall.  The final version of the wall was a concrete structure roughly 12 feet high and 8 inches thick.  A security barbed fence was offset about 40 feet from the wall.  The space in between was raked to reveal the footprints of anyone trying to escape.  Concrete blocks were buried to prevent digging under the wall.  An elaborate communication line was strung along the wall so that watchposts could communicate.  If the fence was breeched, the guards knew within a hundred yards where the breach occurrred.

Dogs were tethered to lines to help prevent escape in some areas.  There were watch towers like this one.  This tower is in its original location.

While we were in the watch tower, we met an American who was in Germany on a mission trip with his church.  He was stationed there 20 years ago and this was his first trip back since he served.  He said he wasn't sure what his emotions were going to be during his return visit.  He described it as "pure joy" to see the town without division.

I have many more pictures and pictures of all the placards with the historical background written in English.  If you are interested in these, send me an email at andrewpwasson@gmail.com and I will try to send you a link where you can download these photos.

I was quite surprised to find out that Buckeye Nation is alive and well in Germany.  Check out the end of the gun on this statue of a border guard.  OH....