Castles, etc.

Saturday was a full day for the Aycocks. We had to drive out to Krahenberg, where we were to meet the landlord of the house we wanted. He had it narrowed down to us, and one other family (out of 30 applicants). So, we were feeling pretty good about it. We talked with him for about thirty minutes, then he said he would call us around 12:30 or 1:00pm to let us know his decision. Ugh, more waiting.
BUT, that was quite all right, because we had plans to go to Lichtenberg Castle, located in the town of Thallictenberg. It was pretty small, but still awesome. Construction was started in the year 1200, and I believe the church section was finished in 1700.















The castle had it's very own little restaurant we ate at. Josh had potato soup & I had fried camembert, with cranberry sauce & a balsamic salad. So good. We just got water to drink. They brought out a small bottle of evian to split, and then charged us 3,50 euro. Tip of the day - always order "TAP water". The restaurant is apparently known for their basil ice cream, which is why I wanted to eat there in the first place, but unfortunately, it won't be available for another two weeks. I'm so going back if nothing more than for the ice cream.

After this castle, we drove to Landstuhl, which is just five minutes outside Ramstein. There, we went to another castle called Nanstein. This was more touristy, and actually cost a little bit of money to get in - but it was much smaller than Lichtenberg. As soon as we got to the parking lot, the landlord called about the house. He decided to give it to the family with children. He said that he thinks it will be much easier for us to get a house since we don't have kids, and that's why he gave it to the other family. BOOOOO. So that pretty much put a pall on Nanstein.









After we were all castled-out, we went back to the house and took Sasha to the dog park outside our apartment. She's never been to one before, and I was a little nervous, but she did really really well. She actually kinda sorta played with one of the other dogs (which is surprising, since normally she is a big biotch that doesn't want to lower herself to the level of "other" dogs".




After doggy time, we went back out to Ramstein & went to a bar where one of the locals practiced his English on us. Everyone is pretty friendly around here. I think one of the reasons is there are a lot of locals that work on base.



After the bar, we went to dinner & had a board game night with the Myers. Verrrrrry full day, which means that today (Sunday), I was quite lazy. And I'm okay with that. Plus, Daylight Saving Time started today, so we lost an hour. At least I'm going to use that as an excuse to lounge. So, we're now 7 hours ahead of CST, not 6.

Now we're back to the drawing board with the house-hunting. Wish us luck, it's a jungle out there.