Amberg

So, while we are waiting on the Army to put us in a house, we are doing some hotel living while exploring the city of Amberg. Amberg will celebrate its 1,000th birthday in 2034!! It is absolutely beautiful. The original walls of the city still stand, and inside those walls you will find restaurants, shops, bakeries, churches, hotels, apartments, and much more. We've walked almost every street inside the walls, just taking it all in. Here are some pictures from this lovely city.

This is the view from one of our hotel windows. I love these ivy covered buildings!

Here is the center city area. We are loving the whole outdoor dining atmosphere!

This is one of the original tower entrances to the city.

The Vils River runs through the center of the city. There's a little boat tour you can take, although we've not yet done it. The walk along the river is really pretty. It's just about more than Austin can take to walk by the river and know he can't throw a fishing line in there!

These are the town spectacles. The bridge was originally part of the town's fortification, and its arches reflected on the water look like a pair of glasses. Pretty neat!

The most interesting buildings we've visited are St. Martin's Basilica and St. George Church. St. Martin's was built in 1421 after the original church was torn down. It's the largest hall church in northern Bavaria. This Gothic church is filled with beautiful stained glass and paintings. We were in awe!

St. George Church was built in 1359 as a Gothic church, but was later taken over by Jesuits and redecorated in the 18th century. So beautiful!

Last but not least, I have to share some food pictures! These dishes were all from one of our visits to Schloderer Brau, which has quickly become our favorite restaurant here in Amberg. I forget the name of this dish, but it was basically a pork chop wrapped in bacon, served with gravy and home fries and topped with onion rings. Austin ordered this, and we were all eating off of his plate! So good!!

This was Don's goulash with spatzle (a type of egg noodle).

For dessert, Laurel and I shared a crepe topped with vanilla ice cream...

and the boys split this chocolate cake with fruit.

We're all being adventurous in trying new foods, even Austin who has always been a stickler for eating only what he knows he likes. There have been very few things we've tried so far that we've not enjoyed.

All that said, we are missing a few American things like -

1. Air conditioning! The first few days we were here, the highs were in the mid-80s which made for quite a warm hotel room.

2. The value of a dollar being a dollar. The exchange rate stinks!

3. Sweet tea, although we have had some at the PX. Thank you Popeye's!! 

Of course we miss all of our friends and family too, but are very thankful for technology making it easier for us to keep in touch!