On Picking Up Our Car & How It Could Possibly Have Gone Worse

If the title of this entry was accurate, then this would be the shortest one yet because the contents would read as follows:

It could not have gone worse. 

That isn't entirely true. The car could have been horribly damaged. We could have not been able to pick up the car. We could not even have a car to pick up. I could have no arms and one leg. We could all be dead. There...bright side officially looked on. We are also nearing the point on the timeline of our life here in Germany when our "quick shipment" will be arriving. At this point, it has only been 60 days since the goods were picked up with the promise of arriving in "no more than 30 days." So, after our trip to Poland, having slept in a proper bed for 3 nights, we have now decided that we will make the car pick-up trip into a mini SW-ish Germany tour of other actual beds/mattresses. This is where we find our weary travelers.

Fresh off our Poland trip and with our clothes freshly laundered, we set out to retrieve the trusty Toyota Camry from Wiesbaden Army Airfield. We designed the trip such that Neil and I could take the driver's license class and test in the morning while Annika was cared-for at the Wiesbaden CDC (no thanks to Valorie Johnson) and pick the car up immediately after. Neil did some research which led us to believe that, once licensed-drivers, the process of getting the car would take 90-120 minutes. This seemed reasonable which should have been our first clue that something was amiss. I had been fighting a sinus infection/cold/sore throat since we arrived in Berlin, and Neil had picked it up as well. Naturally, since Annika had survived almost 6 weeks with me and not gotten sick, she developed a fever, cough, and runny nose the morning caught the train to Wiesbaden. I don't have to tell you that she didn't miraculously recover by the next day and as such was not able to attend the CDC, thereby making it impossible for me to take the class/test. Since we had to check out of our hotel room that morning, that left sick me with a sick baby to wander around Wiesbaden Army Airfield from approximately 0700-1230. Fortunately, we had purchased a cheap stroller the previous week, so I didn't have to physically carry her, and I can pretty much give directions to anywhere on the post from anywhere on the post. At least it wasn't raining.

Neil passed the licensing test, and we caught the bus to the car pick-up area. Annika loves being held captive for long periods of time, so she was quiet as a mouse for the entirety of the bus ride as she had been all morning. No one shot death glares at me, and I didn't feel at all like the worst mother ever for having a sick child and nowhere to shelter her/allow her to nap (because she naps like an angel). It didn't take 4 hours, 2.5 of which I spent walking in circles around the parking lot with a child who screamed for 1 of those hours. The people who worked there didn't work at a painfully slow pace because they are government employees who take pride in their jobs and fear that if they don't work in an efficient and thorough manner giving attention to good customer service, they may be made redundant. There wasn't a man whose car wasn't passing inspection who yelled at the German inspection workers and then at Neil for suggesting that said inspection workers may not be inclined to allow his car to pass inspection if the yelling continued. We didn't hit a big Stau (German for traffic jam) just after leaving Wiesbaden en route to Heidelberg.  It was an amazing day...a tribute to the outstanding customer service provided by government workers everywhere. Did I mention the part where the lady at the health clinic yelled at me? It was great!

Annika loved Wiesbaden.

Thankfully, Neil was able to secure me a slot to take the driver's license test at Ramstein AFB a few days later, so all was not lost. In the meantime we headed to Heidelberg to relax for a few days. I had always heard how beautiful it was there, but it was amazing. I had not been to Europe before Neil and I came here on our house-hunting trip in February. I love living in Berlin. It is a metropolitan, bustling city, but it lacks some of the old country charms that one thinks about when thinking about living in Germany. Heidelberg, on the other hand, is the quintessential German city. It has a picturesque downtown main street market area, an old castle, an old bridge, and a lovely path to walk along the Neckar River. Here are some nice German-looking pictures.

The Old Bridge

Bridge blasted by German troops in 1945 and the rebuilt.

Gate of the old bridge.

Family fun at Schloss Heidelberg

Happy after a nap during the castle tour.

Solar-powered boat cruise on the Neckar River.

Capri Suns...not just for adults.

We bid farewell to Heidelberg and headed to Ramstein so that I could get my German driver's license. I will spare you the details of the angry government worker demanding an office phone number for Neil, who has no office and let you know that I passed the test. Sadly, the woman who never stopped talking and asking stupid questions during the class did not pass. She was quick to loudly inform everyone outside of the classroom that she failed and that she has a Master's degree..about 15 times. Apparently not in German driving lady, so zip it. At Ramstein, we also enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Manning house...a nice break from the fear of eating out with our ever-screaming monster. It was also nice to see familiar faces and get a few living in Germany tips. After a quick stop at the commissary for some staples and a trip to the famous/infamous New York Döner, we headed to Weimar for a day to split up the return trip to Berlin.

Annika and Daddy sharing a Döner.

After literally years of hearing about this place,
my first NY Döner.

Weimar was a bit of a last-minute addition to the trip, and we were pleasantly surprised by all the town had to offer. From the beautiful park in the middle of town to the Soviet cemetery from WWII to the awesome and creepy underground bunker, it is a history-rich city, and we will definitely return because there was too much to see in a day.

Potato souffle.

In the park: Lift up your gaze and pause.

View when you lift up your gaze.

Soviet cemetery.

Soviet cemetery.

Soviet cemetery.

In the underground bunker, UNDER the Soviet cemetery.

Before we left Weimar to head back to Berlin, we decided to stop at Buchenwald. It is just on the outskirts of Weimar and was one of the largest concentration camps on German soil. It was primarily a work/forced-labor camp for Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, POWs, Freemasons, and anyone else who didn't fall in line. Though crowded with tourists, it was eerily quiet, and one could only hear the footsteps of other tourists on the gravel of the grounds...and Annika whenever she stopped moving in her stroller for more than 5 seconds. I took few pictures because, whether it was or not, it seemed inappropriate. Buchenwald was one of the first concentration camps liberated by US troops in April of 1945. They arrived at 3:15 PM, which is the time that remains on the clock at the gate of Buchenwald to this day.

Looking into the grounds of Buchenwald.

The gate that every inmate passed through.
Translates: To each his own. Figuratively in German,  "Everyone
gets what he deserves."

Clock atop the gate viewed from inside the camp.

Site of a mass grave uncovered at Buchenwald, now
part of the memorial outside of the camp.

We headed back to Berlin from Buchenwald, happy to be alive, with all of our limbs and back to hopefully get our first shipment of things delivered. As one last kick in the pants, we hit a major Stau in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason where we literally sat motionless for about 45 minutes. Apparently this kind of thing is standard on any of the Autobahns. While it is nice to have the car for trips to Ikea and to buy things like a grill, we may end up using the train more often than previously thought. 

Future topics to get excited about:

• A trip to Den Haag
• My attempts to learn German with a child who loves screaming and not napping
• German playgrounds...they still have sand and mulch!