The beautifully preserved, walled village of Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a great day or weekend trip. There is more to see and do in this quaint town than can be accomplished in a day so if your itinerary can handle it, spend at least 2 days here.
  There are a few great ways to see Rothenburg; climb the town hall tower for a 360 panoramic view, walk the historic walls surrounding the city, and drive to the double-arched bridge in the valley below for some wonderful vistas.
  One activity that is not to be missed is the Night Watchman's Tour. It is held every evening at 8pm, mid-March through Christmas and begins at the town hall. No tickets or reservations are needed, just  show up with ready for an hour-long, entertaining, humourous, and educational account of the town's history. It is worth far more that the
7 euros you'll pay. We've seen it twice now and will happily be back again when we have more guests.
  Restaurant Review: The restaurant Roter Hahn is great. We have eaten there twice and had excellent service and food (see photos) both times. When the weather is nice they have outdoor seating and is a great place to grab a bier and people watch.
  Hotel Review: We stayed at The Hotel Burg Gartenpalais. The location is great and there is onsite parking, although it is a little confusing to find the parking lot. The room was very reasonably priced, very clean, had a large sitting area, updated bathroom, european-style bed (two twin mattressess put together), and included breakfast. The garden area looks like it would be wonderful in the summer although it was closed down for the season when we arrived. I would definately stay here again.

A great few days of sightseeing in Wiesbaden, Mainz, Frankfurt, and Rüdesheim am Rhein. Wonderful company, delicious food, and lots of laughs.

Captions speak for themselves! Hope you enjoy a taste of western Ireland!

Wiesbaden is incredible! Great food and incredible scenery! Weinfest is a blast and it can be found in almost any town. Get the produce, in local stores; while it's fresh it won't last long! The blackberries grow wild here almost anywhere so bring Tupperware. Absolutely beautiful from any vista!
***Note to Military Spouses - Our unaccompanied baggage still hasn’t arrived, though our  household goods have. Save yourself the trouble and send it in one shipment. – If anyone in your family is allergic to bees, note it on your EFMP form. Bees  are everywhere, not Africanized bees, but they’re as prevalent as mosquitoes in  the south.  – I’ve been told that  the AAA international license that you get in the states doesn’t work here,  still waiting on confirmation of that. TBD. – Food here is amazing, no worries  with food allergies for the most part. – From what we’ve been told, housing is  on post unless you have an accepted “Exception to Policy Letter,” which may or  may not be acknowledged by housing.  If you have extenuating circumstances,
make sure your PCP (primary care provider) has acknowledged them in your  physical prior to departure. More to come in the following weeks on inprocessing…

Stories to come later. Photos now! Our first night out, and our next adventures Frankfurt (apple wine fest) and Wiesbaden (wine fest). So much fun!

    After spending 2 days in Washington, D.C. seeing the sights (a couple of the Smithsonian museums, White House, Union Station, Washington  Monument, etc.) we drove back to Baltimore to catch our flight. I don't know how  we managed it, probably luck, but we boarded the plane into the business class section of the airplane.  
    The 7.5 hour flight was quite comfortable and we arrived at about 7:30am local time. We were then put into a holding area we were not allowed to leave unless our Army sponsor was there to pick us up or our bus left (one wouldn't leave until 2:30pm that afternoon). Luckily our sponsor had filled out the paperwork and was waiting for us. Once they processessed our paperwork, we were escorted out where our sponsor took us under his care.
    We dropped our bags at the hotel and he
gave us a tour of the Ramstein BX (pretty much a mall). That's where we recieved a call that we were not actually assigned to Landstuhl as we had originally been told but were actually getting attached to a Wiesbaden unit. Typical Army! Hence a lot of phone calls and questions persued. Our wonderful sponsor drove us to Wiesbaden and helped us find our next unit sponsor.
    After  having been up for over 24 hours, and trying to stay awake until at least 8pm (great advice D!) our long time friend picked us up for a lovely dinner and some
great wine (long overdue at this point!) So we have now spent our first night in Germany and are looking forward to our great adventure!
    A  couple of observations: the audobahn is really just an interstate where there are places without a speed limit; the doors always look open because they don't sit flush in the frames; there are knobs in the bathroom that I don't know how to work :P Here are a few photos from the road - enjoy!
***Advice to military spouses: ask your sponsor to pick you up; otherwise you may spend hours waiting for the bus. I also have no clue why they issued me a no-fee gov't  passport, the immigration official stamped my regular tourist passport. Bring earplugs for you and your family - the plane can be noisy. Staying up to at least 8pm is a must to help reset your internal clock (otherwise you may wake up
in the middle of the night and not be able to fall back asleep.) Always keep your sense of humor - things can, and will, change; it's the Army.