Easter in Orsfeld

Translation: HAPPY EASTER

Day 26: April 19th, 2014

Today was a relaxing day, or as relaxing as it can be with 7 kids in the house, while the parents headed to the temple for a stake temple trip. We were not in charge of babysitting, that was for the older kids, but we were definitely the preferred attraction.

The youngest kids, 2, 5 and 8, wanted to play with us, especially the 2 and 5 year old. Allie had to go to work at noon, so we played with the kids for a while, but then Amber needed a pregnancy nap. Jeff sat next to her and eventually fell asleep as well. While we were asleep we had multiple visitors, namely the 2 and 5 year old. One time the 2 year old opened the door reached just her hand into grab the chapstick that was sitting on a bench next to the door. She then applied it, most likely liberally, to her lips, she was behind the door so we couldn't see and then quietly placed it back on the bench and closed the door. It was adorable.

We played with the kids until the parents came home, and then had dinner with the family. After that we headed off with Allie to one  of her friend's house and watched Gravity. Now Amber is for sure never letting Jeff go to space!

Day 27: April 20th, 2014 EASTER!!

For Easter Sunday we went to the ward here in the area with Allie and her sister's family. Most of the ward members are from the base so it was all in English. It was fun because we got to see Carrie (Warner) Borgia's brother and sister-in-law and their cute child who are also in the ward. 

After church we came home and Jeff got enlisted to help the Easter Bunny hide baskets for the kids. It was lots of fun to see then search high and low for them. Jeff was in charge of the two older kids and he may have been a little hard for the oldest girl. After a few hints she eventually found it.

Later some friends from the ward came over for dinner . It was really good and fun to talk to other people about American issues. Really, long adult conversations were a bonus since we have been used to halted conversations with varying levels of English proficiency and kids for the past month.

The area next to their home is a beautiful countryside. The kids went out walking with Amber as she took some pictures. Then the kids had a turn with the camera: 

 Happy Easter from the Shirts!

 and from BABY SHIRTS TOO!

Allie was so sweet and surprised us with an Easter basket!

Day 28 April 21, 2014: 

The tale of 4 countries

We woke up this morning and we packed all our stuff for our flight to Pisa that night and then we got in Allie's really awesome old VW Golf, it has a lot in common with the old Sentra , and headed out on an excursion. This is the only kind of excurision that you can have in Europe. We left Orsfeld and drove across Luxembourg and drove into Belgium so that we could go to a large French supermarket that Amber used to frequent on her mission in Taiwan.

BELGIUM

Little door on the old church next door to the Carrefour. Were people really this small once?

They don't even know the awesomeness of their license plate. 

The only problem was that it was Easter Monday, basically an extension of the Easter weekend in Europe, and all the stores were closed. So we took a picture and headed back to Luxembourg to Luxembourg City. We spent a few hours walking around the city and taking in the beautiful view that is afforded by the fact that the city is built on what was on old fortress until 1867. The main walls are still there and help the city achieve its perch above a gorge that is now a park. It was beautiful to look down on the large trees that were in the park.

LUXEMBOURG

Luxembourg was the opposite of Belgium. Very busy with many outdoor markets!!

More sausage!

The city was built historically as a Roman fortress on a rock mountain, with cliffs on all sides. There are beautiful gardens now at the base of those cliffs!

Had to go with Nutella Gelato! 

Back in Germany heading to the airport. The countryside and colorful trees are just breathtaking! 

After that we got back in the car and drove back to Germany to catch our plane to Pisa. We are flying the cheap airline, Ryanair, and they are cheap for a reason. You get nothing. And we really mean nothing. First there is the tickets.  You have to print your own and bring it with you. If you fail to do that it is €70 to have them print it for you. Every checked bag is paid for, and it is even paid for in classes of weight. If it is less than 15kg it is €30 but if it is up to 20kg it is €40. Not cheap. Then there is the fact that they do not fly to airports that are very centrally located. Our flight was out of the Frankfurt-Hahn airport. Your first guess would be that it is near to Frankfurt, but your first guess would be wrong. Your next 50 guesses would also be wrong because the Frankfurt-Hahn airport is an hour and a half from Frankfurt in an old US Air Force Base, complete with abandoned houses and offices surrounding the area.  Even the airport is bare bones. I guess you get what you pay for. Then on the plane  things get even more spartan. There are no safety cards or magazines. The safety information is in the seat back in front of you and you have to ask for the magazine. There is no beverage service and you have to pay a premium for all the food and beverages. This is definitely a pack your own snacks kind of flight.  So if you want to fly very cheaply, and don't mind seats that don't recline and want to board a plane with the feeling that you are more cow than human, then this is the airline for you. At least the fares for both Amber and me were only €50 total.

After the uneventful flight we landed in Pisa, Italy and there met up with the Italian Cousins, Carlo and Sara, and headed to our B&B. It was so good to for Amber to see them again, and for Jeff to meet them. Now we get to have the second half of our adventure. An adventure that we have no itinerary for, and we are excited to be lead instead of trying to figure it all out. It looks like it is going to be so much fun!

The Land of Many Porsches

Stuttgart Germany

Day 23: April 16th, 2014

Today was the day of cars. This was the day we finally got to go to the Porsche Museum. It was fantastic! (from Jeff's point of view) Amber enjoyed  it too. There were so many pretty examples of Porsche's through the years, and the audio tour was pretty informative about how it all began and has progressed. Now all they needed to do was to allow us to drive them and Jeff's life would be complete. Alas, that is not possible. It was still tons of fun to see . While Amber was taking a break from the engaging exhibits, one of the workers came up to her and asked her if she needed anything. She said that she was here with her husband and just wanted to sit down. The worker replied, "This is a husband kind of museum." That pretty much sums it up.

 The first Porsche! It was an electric car with 4 horsepower! It was the predecessor, in a round about way to the Hippie Van, because Ferdinand Porsche designed the VW Beetle which spawned the entire VW company!

Jeff with a real, working Sally Carrera! It is a highly modified 911.

 "Watch out! That is my man!"-Amber

They were "sound showers" that gave you surround sound of many different engines from across the years. 

Carrera GT

 Light as a feather! 

It was a display to show that at speed, this car produces enough downforce through aerodynamic design to drive on the ceiling!

 The perfect philosophy for life!

The genesis of Amber's love affair with VW

The first fire engine was a Porsche, or at least designed by Ferdinand Porsche himself!

 911 Targa

Carrera GT in the wild. :)

After that we drove back, it took forever because traffic was insane. We then got some dinner and cooked it at our place and then watched " French Kiss". It should be obvious who was in control of the movie selection.

Pictures of our "lovely and interesting" accommodations:

Day 24: April 17th, 2014

Today we headed off to Frankfurt to end our long road trip, 2300km in all. We were headed to the hostel owned by the LDS church that is next to the Frankfurt temple. We are meeting Allie there tomorrow to do a session and then we are heading out to her place in the middle of nowhere Germany!

On the way to Frankfurt we decided to try and find the roots of the Shirts, originally Schertz, family in Germany. Robert, Jeff's dad said that they were from the Darmstadt area. We also went to trusty Google and googled it. We put it into Google Maps and we found a Schertz that was kind of on the way to Darmstadt so we added it to the itinerary and headed off. The GPS was unfailing, if not annoying, and found the address very quickly in the little town of Lieman, Germany. The only problem was that it was a house, with a family with the last name of Schertz living in it. Strange how you can Google Schertz, Germany and find a person's residence. If that only worked everywhere. I wonder if the people know this? We didn't get to talk to them so we will never know. It doesn't work for Shirts, Idaho, or Shirts, USA. It just starts listing off places to buy shirts, and hopefully not people. . .

What is most likely a 2015 Audi A7 with very little disguising. We saw it driving from Stuttgart to Frankfurt in a massive traffic jam.

We also stopped by Darmstadt, but just kept on driving because it is just a large suburb of Frankfurt and there wasn't much historical stuff available,  but we've been there!

We then headed off to Frankfurt, or more specifically, Friedrichsdorf. The only problems were the miles, or should we say kilometers, of traffic, and the GPS telling us to drive off of a bridge that had been taken out due to being replaced. We suffered through the first one, and kept driving until the GPS gave up on trying to convince us to turn around and redirected us around the construction.

We got to the temple, checked into our room and had a relaxing evening of making food and talking.

Day 25: April 18th, 2014

Today we woke up and  Jeff left early to make sure that he had the car back to the rental company by 11am. We didn't want to take any chances with the GPS or traffic. He got there in plenty of time, especially because he wanted to enjoy the last few minutes of the autobahn. This meant finding out how fast the little 4 cyl diesel would go. He can now happily report that it will go 200 KMH which is just about 125 MPH, and the thing still averages 47MPG.

America, why not have a diesel, or even a diesel hybrid? I got better mileage than a Prius in a cheap little diesel! Now I may not have looked much better than a Prius doing it, but there are a few things that cannot be forgotten. #1 I was NOT driving a Prius. #2 I got as good or better average MPG than a Prius. #3 I don't ever have to worry about batteries. This means no worries about the constant threat of them running dry half way up a mountain pass and the car turning into a 87HP weakling trying to haul 1000 Lbs of batteries plus people and luggage up a hill. There is also the added bonus of not having to replace an intrigal part of the drive train at less than 100,000 miles. Instead I saved the planet, and my sanity, with gobs of low end torque and a 1000km( 621 Mile) range  between fill ups. Think about it America. My rental also cost less than a Prius, and most importantly, it wasn't a Prius. And another thing. You can buy a 2014 Mercedes C200 Diesel in America, because my Seat is not available, that pollutes less than a Prius and gets the same real world gas mileage. And it looks infinitely better, and again, is not a Prius.

Ok, this is the end of my shameless Prius bashing. I Promise.

After that we had a little problem with technology and how it cannot possibly take over the world just yet. Allie said that she would pick Jeff up at the main train station where he had to drop car off. The problem arose when the question about what the main entrance to the train station was. Both said to meet in the parking lot south of the main train station, but both had seen a different main entrance. This meant that both waited a mere200 yards from each other for over an hour before they were able to get into contact with each other and figure out their mistake. 

Eventually they found each other and met back up with Amber at the Temple and had a wonderful session in the temple.

 Week 27 of Pregnancy!

We then headed off to Western Germany for what turned out to be some great food and amazing hospitality. We first stopped at Trier, Germany, the oldest continuous town in Germany. It was started in the 16th century BC. In said town, which is very modern with some old walls and towers, there is a very good restaurant with hearty food. Allie loves this place and so we were glad to give her the opportunity to eat it again. As we have learned, the Germans aren't too hot on the vegetable topic, as you can see in these pictures. but they do love potatoes, meat, and cheese. All good things.

After that the baby was demanding some ice cream so we found some delicious gelato, for 0.90 €, crazy because in America we would have paid at least $2-3 for it. The Greek lady working there loved the baby bump and added on double!

 After that we headed to Allie's sister and brother-in-law's house in Orsfeld. It is a small farming village surrounded by bright yellow grapeseed fields. He is a counselor for the school on the Air Force Base in Spangdahlem. They have 6 adorable children who have loved to have us around. It is wonderful.