When I heard that Technik Museum Speyer, which is in Speyer, Germany had slides coming down from some of the display planes I wanted to go check it out on our weekend trip in Stuttgart. While the displays were neat and they had some interesting stuff we found that it is overpriced and the most fun was found at the playground outside the museum. However if you have someone in your family who is really [Read more…]
The Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Exhibition at the Blooming Baroque (Blühenden Barock) in Ludwigsburg, Germany is said to be the world’s largest pumpkin event, there are over 400,000 pumpkins used! It runs from the beginning of October to the start of November. For 2014 it is open Oct. 5th – Nov. 2nd. So if you haven’t visited yet you still have time.
Some have called it a pumpkin festival, but as far as [Read more…]
Did you know that your German dishwasher needs salt?! I had NO clue! Seriously we have lived in our house for 7 months and I just realized this! Sure I’ve heard others talk about putting salt in their dishwasher, but I guess I just thought it didn’t apply to mine!
Your first clue that you may need to add salt is that your dishes may not be drying well. I just chalked it up to living in Germany and [Read more…]
After visiting the Hitscherhof Pumpkin Festival we wanted to check out Burg Trifels since it was only 40 minutes away. Burg Trifels has some history which makes it worth visiting. It’s said that Richard the Lionhart was captured and held captive here from 1193-1194. It is also said that the treasure room once held the Holy Grail. It is also the only one left of the 3 that sat upon the three [Read more…]
We were so excited to check out our first fall festival in Germany! We went to Hitscherhof Pumpkin Festival in Maßweiler, Germany. Ok so they call it the Hitscherhof Farm Festival but all the Americans call it a pumpkin festival. It is about 1.5 hours drive from Spangdahlem, but worth the drive for some great family fun! We also paired this with Burg Trifles as you know I have a hard time doing ‘just’ [Read more…]
October brings fall and with that the start of some fall festivals in Germany ! I’m excited to share October festivals around Spangdahlem with you! We had a great time checking out the August Festivals & September Festivals. Again these are generally no more than 3 hours away, although I may throw in one or two further away ones if I think that they are something to consider.
There are festivals [Read more…]
Understanding the ESSO gas card can be intimidating and overwhelming for newcomers or those due to PCS to Spangdahlem. For those of you who don’t know what an ESSO gas card is living in Germany as a military family requires you to use an ESSO gas card, so that you do not have to pay German economy prices. Before we arrived I worried about not having enough gas rations each month and having to pay [Read more…]
Today I have a guest post from Amanda, a local Spangdahlem photographer, sharing a surprise homecoming story of an Spangdahlem AB military family! I just the image of Scott in the above photo with his unsuspecting family in the foreground!
*Disclaimer – please note that the real names of the family have not been used in this story.
One of the bittersweet aspects of military life is deployment. [Read more…]
Historisches Burgenfest in Manderscheid, Germany is the closest medieval festival to Spangdahlem AB. It takes place among the two Mandersheid Castles that we have visited. We heard about it shortly after we arrived in Nov of 2013 so it was on the top of the list to check out this August. If your wanting to go next year they’ve already updated the website with the dates for August of 2015.
Let me [Read more…]
Thomas Philips is a great find here in Bitburg, Germany for shopping! A friend described it to me as ‘like a Ross but a more unorganized’ LOL! I agree it is like a Ross with lower cost items and without the clothing. They have a few items like socks, leggings, but generally not much clothing.
When you first enter you walk into what I call the Household good section. Here you’ll find glasses, kitchen [Read more…]