Intel 35 Day 1 - (Germany) Day 258

This morning we woke up at our hotel and after getting ready headed outside of our rooms to have breakfast in the dining area. The breakfast was modest, but more than enough to satisfy. I had orange juice, a roll with jam, a banana, and a slice of bread with some cheese and meat. The host also filled up my travel mug with coffee for the road…Awesome! Now I'll have coffee for a while during class.

Speaking of class we arrived and started the process of the first day of class. There were only four of us and nobody was on the actual schedule to take the class. We all came on stand-by status…LOL. We were all missing at least one piece of required paperwork, but after making some calls we all were able to get everything taken care of before the end of the day. This class is much different than Intel 34. We have the same instructors for Intel 35 and even they joked that the previous class (Intel 34) is very boring and tough to teach. All the instructors remembered me from the previous class. We started off by doing a little introduction, then headed into an overview of what the class will involve. This class will be a lot more hands on. In fact the first half of the day consisted of mainly PowerPoint, but the second half was all hands on. It wasn't much, but we did turn on the LCMS system, created accounts and such.

I think this class is going to be so much better than the previous class. It's also nice having SGT Mex from my office with me here. We are able to hang out and chat quite a bit during breaks, lunch, and after class. We got out at 1630 and headed back to our hotel. After changing and reading a little I met up with SGT Mex in the dining area to eat dinner. We chose to sit outside because it was pretty nice out. I had a typical German meal with a sausage, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes. A German meal wouldn't be complete without a beer, and dessert was ice cream of course. I'm loving that we get to stay and eat at this hotel for free. The place is nice and the food is outstanding!

I then settled down and did some schoolwork for a while before video chatting with my wife for a bit. Now I'm going to relax, read a little and turn in for the night.

Weekend Wrap-Up (Dürkheim Wine Festival) - (Germany) Day 256 & 257

A view of the wine tents from high above on the ferris wheel

Saturday: This morning we slept in a little and did the usual Saturday morning things such as a bit of cleaning and laundry. We then decided to check out the Dürkheim Wine Festival also known as Dürkheim's Wurstmarkt. SPC Mac told me about this even and said it was a lot of fun. We wanted to get out and do something because today was the only real day I'd be home for the weekend. Dürkheim is not too far away, so after setting our course in the GPS, we took off for about a 40 minute drive.

We arrived in Dürkheim and not knowing exactly where to go, we didn't have to look long. We headed towards the city center and ran smack into the festival. To my surprise it was much larger than I was expecting. I thought there would be a number of booths with various wines to sample and perhaps some booths with food as well. It turns out there is a lot of wine, but it's not really sampling that you do. Instead you order a full glass (large or extra large) and can either sit in a tent and drink, or walk around the festival and drink. When the glasses are returned, you receive your deposit back. Not only does the festival have a large number of drinking tents with wines from various vineyards all over, but it also has a carnival feel to it. There are a number of carnival rides and games. There are also a number of vendors selling their merchandise…everything from scarves to jewelry.

It was hot, but a lot of fun. It was pretty cool to sit down with a glass of wine and just people watch for a while. Next time we go I'm sure we'll bring a lot more money so my wife can do a little more shopping…LOL.

A view with my wife looking back as we were

walking around the Dürkheim Wine Festival

A view of some of the vineyards from the top of the ferris wheel

Sunday: I had to wake up at 0630 to get ready and leave with SGT Mex for our Intel 35 class. We made the drive to Rose Barracks in Vilseck and had lunch in the food court. We then made our way to the student orientation and filled out the required paperwork. I was hoping to get in the same hotel on post because the experience wasn't bad and I was within walking distance to everything, but the hotel was full and they sent us to a hotel off post. The government contracts with a number of hotels off post to house the incoming students and feed them breakfast and dinner. We ended up getting sent to a small hotel (really a bed & breakfast) called "Cafe & Pension Ringer", which turned out to be a very nice little hotel out in the middle of nowhere, but only about 5 minutes from post.

The hotel has internet, which was my biggest concern and the folks running it seem very nice. We took off after unloading all our luggage and headed to the Grafenwoer post to check out the PX and grab a few supplies. We headed back to the hotel where I promptly took a nap, then woke up for dinner…which was awesome. All my fears are gone and I can say that I'm excited to be staying in this hotel off post, in fact I think I may like it better than the hotel on post. Not only do I have the necessities, I get much better food than the DFAC and I get to interact with the locals a bit more. Hopefully I'll be able to get into the class because we are both still on stand-by status because for whatever reason neither of us have been officially signed up for the class yet. Everyone has known we both need to go to this class, yet we never were signed up. This means just like my last class here, we have to show up and see if we can get in.

The night consisted of dinner and lots of conversation with SGT Mex, schoolwork, then Skyping with my wife. I'm turning in for the evening…we'll see what tomorrow brings.

A photo of my room at the hotel I'll be calling home for the next two weeks

Weekend Wrap-Up - (Germany) Days 102 - 105

My wife posing in front of the Liederbacher Hof. A small hotel (bed & breakfast)

in the small town of Liederbach near Frankfurt

Friday: Today was pretty uneventful. It was nice not getting up early, I just woke up with my wife and gave her a ride to work. I had the day off, but unfortunately she doesn't get a four day weekend this weekend. I spent the day putting together our guest bed and doing housework such as laundry and dishes. Not very exciting stuff. I was still a little sore and my head was still somewhat fragile. It's crazy that my miracle drug (Excedrin) has been off the shelves for a while now because of a voluntary recall. There is no sign of it coming back and I've blown through my supply. My mom had a big bottle and shipped me more, but that supply is about gone as well. I can't believe the company hasn't been able to get their act together and replenish the supply. Excedrin seems to be one of the only pain relievers that can get rid of my headaches.

Saturday: We left to a small town near Frankfurt called Liederbach. I stayed in this town for the summer about 21 years ago. I had a friend I met through an exchange program a couple years earlier that I stayed with. My friend Ingo came and stayed with me and my parents a year before. Now after 21 years I planned to visit him once again. Ingo had a very unique laugh, one that would make me start laughing every time I heard it. He also was a drunk even by German standards…back when he was a teenager. So I figured we would be doing some drinking while we where visiting.

Ingo now is the owner/operator of the Liederbacher Hof, a small hotel located near his home. He took over the business from his parents and gave us a deal to stay there one night. I would say it's more like a bed and breakfast than a hotel. Ingo does everything from running the front desk to cooking breakfast. If you're interested in staying in a unique small quiet hotel with a nice host within minutes of Frankfurt I would recommend his place.

The biggest shock was that Ingo doesn't drink anymore..in fact he hasn't drank in over 10 years! I guess he lost his license twice and after the second time, he decided to give up beer. It was a huge surprise, but I'm glad he has made the choice to better his life. We visited for a while, then my wife and I headed over to the Main Taunes Zentrum, which is a shopping mall nearby. We passed the time until my friend was able to go out for dinner. We had a great dinner at a small Italian restaurant about a block away. The food was great and catching up with my old friend was a lot of fun. It's still amazing to me that it's been over 21 years! The city looked familiar, but to be honest I couldn't remember hardly anything there. Either the decades that have past, or the fact that I drank a lot when I was there before, may have contributed to my fuzzy memory…or I'm just getting old.

Sunday: We had breakfast at the hotel cooked by my friend, then we headed back home. Once home we watched our TV shows and took it easy for the rest of the day. There isn't too mention about the rest of the day. I spent some time studying for my Apple re-certification, but other than that it was just TV shows and hanging out with my wife.

Monday: Woke up with my wife this morning and saw her off to work. The day consisted of laundry and studying for my Apple re-certification. Not too exciting, but it was a nice relaxing day before I have to return to work tomorrow.