I’m sure you all have shared landlord problems with at least one other person in your circle of acquaintances.  I remember a summer job I had in high school, working the housing office at a military post in Germany.  I can tell you that I had many a heated conversations with a landlord.  Even with the rules in Germany leaning heavily towards tenant rights, you can still have lots of headaches with your landlord.  Now I’m not talking someone like me, a summer hire as your advocate…oh no Lordy…I just said that to set the scene.   I have witnessed MANY a disagreement or altercation, and even though I speak German, I had some sweaty conversations trying to get to the bottom of a lot of issues!  I hated that the housing people gave me the job to call the landlords (low person on the totem pole I guess).  That’s beside the point, and I am WAAAY off track again.  Let me tell you a simple thing you can do to have someone well versed in the system and the language in your corner EVERY TIME you have a landlord issue and believe me, it is no one sitting in that housing office.

Most German cities and areas have something called a “Mieterverein”.  Loosely translated, it’s a “renter’s club”.  It is a club consisting of a band of renters who have hired a crack team of lawyers and advocates who will write strong letters in your behalf, fight for your rights and will go to court if need be to represent you…at no extra cost.  For as little as 60-100 euro PER YEAR, membership in your Mietverein will protect you from such nonsense.  As I have said many times before, peace of mind is just that…peace of mind.  You’ll know what I am talking about the first time your seemingly friendly landlord goes psycho about something you have no clue over.  Or perhaps your little grandma of a landlord has passed away and her children are now in charge.  Yes, that happens too.  I could go on, but I won’t.

To find the Mieterverein in your area, google your city plus “Mieterverein”, and you should find them.  As an example, here is the Mietverein in Stuttgart.  The last time I checked, membership in this particular club was about 78 euro a year.  I highly suggest you check them out!

No way am I giving up any German chow!

Thank-you Amanda for sending in some guest posts!  You all may remember Amanda.  She wrote up a great multiple part article on what exactly goes on in that inprocessing class you and your spouse attend when you first hit Germany…sometime in between the first bouts of jet lag and the act of moving out of the hotel.  Today, she’d like to talk a bit about the cost of living in Germany.  I mean, we all know the Germans are on the Euro and that even looking at a dollar, unless you are onpost will probably have a zero chance of happening.  I looked at my first dollar yesterday…I think in over 3 months.

Here’s what Amanda has to say:

As amazing as living in Germany is, like all good things, the privilege comes with a price, sometimes a steep one. We get COLA (Cost of Living Allowance) to help offset the added expenses of living overseas, but that doesn’t always cover the price difference. Our car insurance alone is $285 a month, more than double what we paid in the States. Right now, the euro is stronger than the dollar, so everything we buy on the economy (off post) is more expensive. One might think we could save money shopping on post, but that comes with added costs too. Let’s take a look at both.

On the Economy:

The biggest price difference comes on the economy. The value of the dollar in Germany fluctuates. It has been as low as $.74 and never higher than $.79 since we’ve been here. We are paid in dollars, so the second we pull out euro from an ATM, we take a loss.  At the time of this posting, one euro is equal to about $.77. That means for every euro we spend, we are spending about $1.30. That’s not a huge difference for small purchases. But if one buys, for example, several pieces toward a wardrobe or a piece of furniture, the cost becomes a bigger deal. A €100 clothing selection is about $130. A €500 furniture selection is about $650.

The exchange rate isn’t the only difference. Germany applies a 19% VAT (Value Added Tax) on many products and services. While a few things like groceries have a reduced rate of 7%, the regular 19% VAT rate is more than three times the sales tax of many states in the U.S. With the VAT, that €100 we talked about spending on clothes is really about €119, so the true cost is about $154. That €500 piece of furniture is really about €595, so you’d really pay about $770. Quite a difference, isn’t it?

Fortunately for U.S. service members and their families, there is something called a VAT form which allows us to avoid that hefty tax. They are $3 to $4 a form, depending on how many are purchased at a time and can be used on many purchases up to €2499,00. For those who use German utilities, there is also a UTAP (Utilities Tax Avoidance Program) which allows one who uses eligible companies to avoid the 19% tax on gas and electric and the 7% tax on water. If you are stationed in Germany, the local Tax Relief Office can provide further information on either of these services.

Even asking this in the store is not a guarantee all will go smoothly at the register. One time, we were in a store where the VAT form was accepted and others had been able to have it approved at the register. When we got up to the cashier, she said she would ring us up at regular price first, and we could go to the service desk to provide the form and get the tax refunded. Because the form may not be accepted or may require paying the full price ahead of time, one should always make sure to have enough euro available. (And one should always have euro as most places do not accept American credit/debit cards).

On Post:

With the exchange rate and added tax on the economy, one might think it would be cheaper to buy things on post. This may not be the case. While shopping on post is free from both U.S. and German taxes, goods are often more expensive. A bag of candy that would be about $1.5 in the States could be $3 here.  And costs can fluctuate. I heard someone talking about the frozen waffles she buys her child going from $1 to $4 over the course of about a month.  

Some of the added cost comes from the fact that some of the goods are not available in Germany and have to be shipped in. Anything that has to be kept cold has to be flash-frozen before it ships. People can also put in requests for items they miss from back home. I was surprised to find Verners, a Michigan produced ginger ale I only occasionally saw in FL and never saw in GA, here in the commissary. Considering that one can go to another country and find things that are regional in the States, one can’t really complain if it’s a little pricier to have it.

While it’s good to be aware of the added expenses of a location, don’t let that intimidate you if you’re about to move here. I see the somewhat higher cost as a small price to pay for the opportunity to live abroad in a country many people will never have the chance to visit let alone get to live in.

Kitty's first trip to Garmisch

Oops, I wonder where Chapter 3 went.  Here it is.  In my Drafts folder.  Our big accomplishment of the week was two-fold.

Not only did we get a real paper copy of our orders, but we had received a confirmation of a one month stay at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort.  Hmmm…that threw a crimp into my plan of getting a nice vacation rental where our kitty could stay with us.  Bummer…..

Since we lost our doggie last year, good ole Sebastian is it and gets ALL the love!  He is already an old man, so he has a special status in our household.

One of the few photos with our elusive kitty.

Of course now that we have orders, let the official moving planning begin!

www.fotolia.com

I think I am seeing a little bit of smooth sailing ahead and the fog has lifted a bit.  Today I crossed some major PCS roadblocks off our list!  This is our second most unusual PCS, moving from one foreign country to another, but it seems to be something that more of my friends are experiencing.  Here is what I was able to hack off our list today.

Our cat gets to stay with a cat lady!  Thanks to one of my LLMW readers and my incessant googling in German looking for such cat lady.

We’ve got a forwarding address at our new duty station already.  Thanks sponsor!  Now I have no excuse to NOT go down my list of address changes.  I like to keep an email in my Drafts folder, where I periodically will update websites/addresses/contact #s of companies we do business with.  I even include any magazine subscriptions and anyone we get mail from who is not in our address book. I periodically update it.  When moving time rolls around, I just go down the list, and check ‘em off.  I have found these last few moves, many of them allow you to change your address on their websites, except for a few hold-outs with some of our mutual funds.  Some still require changes through snail mail.

I’ve already gotten extra prescription refills and got the cat his appointment to update his pet passport and vaccinations.  His lodging is also taken care of after we move out thanks to a great friend.  We were hoping Chievres Lodge didn’t have availability, so we could all go off post…but it did!  I have seen some of the pet rooms there, and honestly, I think some pets have stayed there who were not potty trained nor crate trained….yuck.

I’ve put in a request to cancel our internet/phone/cable, but I’ve been told all I need to do is turn in the box and modems and get it shut off at that time.  Nope…not gonna fall for that.  I am doing everything officially….in writing.  It is the normal European way.

For the last month of our stay in Belgium, I have backwards planned from the date we plan to drive off….even having a few days to get out and see a few more things…because there are always a few more things to see!

We’ve gotten confirmations from our moving company and gotten loads of paperwork to go through from the transportation office.  I’ve set that aside for later reading.

Oh and you know how your family and friends always say they will come to visit you while you are in your latest location?  Of course these stateside relatives will come stay with us the week before the packers come.  In their defense, DH is getting promoted, so visiting Europe is secondary:-)  And Mammy, if you are reading this, I am VERY excited to see you!  Don’t take offense.  This is just something my friends and I joke about, as they usually have visitors too right before they leave Europe.

I’m also happy to say I finished the government paperwork to get the funds to approve my son’s private school.  It wasn’t as lengthy as the application for the school, but nonetheless, it has to be done if you want the government to pay for your kids’ school.

The last thing I did this week was the HARDEST.  I had to write up my resignation paperwork for my job:-)  This is the part I hate the most about moving….having to start all over again with networking and finding your groove at your next duty station, should you choose to work again outside of the home.

My moving binder just got a little thicker too.

How are you faring in your PCS planning?

Why am I not surprised that one of our Russian outings included McDonald's?

Before my memory fades on me, I thought I would share the process of getting a Russian visa.  It was a long process.  It was a process where I thought I knew what I was doing but didn’t.  Here are some tips to making your visa application process run smoothly and without hiccups.

I started my journey in Belgium.  Let me tell you that every single consulate in every single European country will do things slightly differently.  This means that if you are going anywhere but Brussels to get your Russian visa, you may find things done a bit differently.  Please don’t blame me.  I can only share what happened to me and my friends who all went on the trip with me.

Our journey started out by getting invited to an academic competition.  We knew that our lodging and food was taken care of by the organizers.  That was one less thing to worry about.  They also sent us an invitation to visit Russia.  Without that, you CANNOT get a visa.  Luckily, we did not have to pay for ours.  If you are traveling on your own as a tourist, you’ll have to purchase one from your chosen hotel.  I think they run about 40 euro or so.  Make sure the dates of your invitation MATCH the dates of your flights!  Your flights CANNOT fall outside the invitation dates.

Before you even head up to the Russian embassy in Brussels, make sure you have:

• A valid passport with at least six months of use left on it and enough passport pages for stamping.
• Purchased travel insurance with a COPY of it that specifically states it covers the Russian Federation.  I purchased thru USAA’s site, and it was very cheap.  I bought enough coverage to cover all of our expenses on the trip.  I had to call the third party company that runs the travel insurance for USAA to get “Russian Federation” added to our documents.  This is a MUST!
• Your Belgian IDs, even for the children.  You have to prove you are a Belgian resident.  Some Belgian communes will give you little paper copies, nothing other than a signed and stamped scrap of paper for your underage kids under 12 years old.  The stern Russian lady didn’t want to accept it at first.  Thankfully, she changed her mind.  If you try to come with an American passport and no Belgian ID, they’ll tell you to go thru the United States.  No exceptions.
• NO CASH or credit cards.  They take neither.  To pay for your visas you MUST have a bankcard where you can withdraw money from your European bank account. When a friend BEGGED them for an exception, they relented and had her RUN up the street to a corner bank of their choosing and then had her RUN back with the proof that she transferred the money to their account at this particular bank.  The Russians don’t mess around when it comes to money!
• A properly filled out visa application.  There are a few different ones floating around on the internet.  Make sure you have the one for your passport’s origin.  The US one looks much different (and requires much more information) than one of the European ones as an example.  Most of you will also be getting a tourist visa and not one of the other variations.  Make sure you have the right one!  At least in Brussels, for Americans, it cost just under 100 euro for EACH visa.  The British as an example pay about half that.  Don’t ask me why.  They probably have to do more background checks on us Americans…who knows why.  This is the tourist visa application for Americans.  Fill the forms out in DUPLICATE.
• Two European passport size photos (no smiling) that are SECURELY pasted to each visa application.  I got yelled at by the Russian lady for my half assed job and the half assed job of my colleagues whose applications I brought with me.

As I was researching flights, I at first thought our only option was Aeroflot.  Not true.  We ended up flying Swiss Air out of Brussels with a QUICK run to the next plane in Zurich and then on to St. Petersburg, Russia.  We were surprised the flight was only about 300 euro per person.  Not bad.  For good measure, I even printed those confirmations out before heading up to the Russian Consulate.

The day had come to head up to the Consulate.  Another friend who traveled up to Brussels on another day, grandly drove into the MAIN embassy entrance (on the backside of where you will go).  She said, well…they opened the big gate for a big black embassy sedan, so I just followed it!  Ha!  You can bet she was promptly chased out of there!  Instead, go park near the utilitarian entrance on the back of this block.

Consular Department of the Russian Embassy in Brussels, Belgium

Go to:  Address: 78,rue Robert Jones,1180,Belgium

Keep in mind, if your residency is in Flanders outside of Brussels, do NOT go to the Brusssels Consulate to get your visa.  There was a big sign on the door saying you must go to the consulate in Flanders….wherever that is.

I would suggest you CALL the consulate first, as they sometimes close on a moment’s notice…or last minute or whenever.  I’m not sure why, but you can easily call to make sure they will be open on a certain day.  I was lucky that we called and found out the consulate was closed on Friday, our chosen day and then would briefly open that Sunday.  That worked perfect for me.  I wouldn’t have to miss work, and I would not have to deal with Brussels traffic.

I left Mons with about 10 passports, Belgian IDs and visa applications, along with my bankcard and money from all of my friends.  We mistakenly thought we could pay in cash.

Parking was not an issue on Sundays.  It is a leafy residential area with plenty of streetside parking.  The weekdays it is a different story.  You may drive around a long time before you find parking.  Leave early.

I arrived about one hour before the consulate opened.  There is a glassed-in enclosure out front in case of inclement weather.  A nice Russian man in one line asked if I was Russian, and when I answered in the negative, he directed me to the other line.  We stood in line quietly for the most part, except for the “foreigners” who were standing in my line….they chatted about everything, laughing, joking…later complaining.  The Russians know how to stand in lines and for the most part, did not say a word.

Two minutes after opening time, the door opened, and a HUGE man stepped out, surveyed both lines, spoke in Russian, then shut the door.

After awhile, I figured out his system.  He would let us in, onesies and twosies from either line.  Myself and another “foreigner” started taking bets on which line he would draw from next.  I could never predict it.  Sometimes someone with a bright orange ticket would just show up, knock on the door….the guy would come out, see the ticket, close the door….and then a few minutes later, let them jump the line and come in.  I figured out later these were poor souls like I was soon-to-be, where something in their application process was not up to snuff, requiring another trip up to the consulate.  More later.

After about another hour, it was my turn to go in.  The guard looks into your bag, checks you out and makes you walk through a metal detector.  You are then faced with ladies behind glass, processing visa applications.  The Russian folks who came in got escorted elsewhere.

Right away, the lady got on my case and scolded me.  First, for having so many applications in hand.  Second for not thoroughly pasting the photos onto the applications.  Didn’t I know these all had to be scanned??!!!  Thirdly for not having proof of travel insurance should I have a medical emergency in Russia.  Flashing a military ID and talking about Tricare gets you nowhere.  She gave me the dreaded orange paper, and I was told to come back.  She would keep all of our passports and applications and keep them to the side.  I also got back all the Belgian IDs as she had made copies of them.   In the meantime, she said, go see the cashier, and oh BTW each of those visas costs 94 euro…I swallowed hard.  Did I even have almost 1,000 euros in our bank account in Belgium???!!!  What the hell is my DH gonna think when he sees such a huge withdrawal!  We obviously miscalculated what we THOUGHT it would cost.  In the end, I paid.  I would sort it out later.

The second trip ended up being on a workday with no parking immediately available…more time wasted looking for a spot.  BUT, armed with the travel insurance documents in hand and the magic orange ticket, we breezed to the FRONT of the line amid harsh stares and whispers.  The modus operandi was the same.  The big guy let us in after only a few minutes.  The deal was done within minutes, and we again got a special orange ticket and told to come back in two weeks to come collect our passports and visas.

From that point on, we all breathed a big sigh of relief.  The hard part was done, and we could concentrate on the more exciting tasks, such as planning our visit of St. Petersburg and having the kids compete in an event of a lifetime!  I’ll save that for another blog entry!

As a sidenote, the first time I went up there, a was behind a guy who spoke four languages (I know, cause I heard each one).  He was a Brussels business man who regularly travels to Russia and usually uses an agency to process his visa.  Since he was short on time (you can pay extra to expedite), his agency wouldn’t do it, so he decided to do it himself.  He told me not to feel bad, as he had an orange ticket and had to come back too.  I’m telling you this, because it may just be less stressful to pay extra to have an expert handle this for you.  There are many agencies online doing this.  The trick I think is to find the reputable ones.

If anyone has traveled to Russia and would like to share their tips, please do below! Thankfully, if you are a cruise passenger, you don’t have to go through this effort.  Since you will be spending the night “on the boat”, the Russians have deemed you do not need a visa.  Even if your ship stops in St Petersburg for two days, you still do not need a visa, as you WILL go back to the ship every night.

The package took about a week and a half to get to us over here at the APO in Europe.  Not bad for a package coming from Seattle.  As I unpacked everything, this is what was inside.

I believe I read on the website, that the lid can contain a personalized message.  If you have a cake lover downrange, you can write a loving little note in there.  Or rather, they write it for you.  I also like that they tell you they make a charitable donation for every Courage Cake they sell.  My boys LOVE chocolate, and they were thrilled to see the “Fearless Fudge” sample as it is called.

The first order of business is to put the contents of the sealed pouch into the small glass jar.  Of course, take the wrapper out first!  That’s just window dressing.

Next, you measure in two and a half TBS of plain water.

Mix it all together until it’s nice and smooth.  Just at this point is when the first strong chocolate aroma hits you.

All smooth and ready to hit the microwave!

Now this is where it can get a little tricky…depending on your microwave.  Ours has a stupid little dial instead of numbers and you can dial it up to 100 minutes if you want to!  The directions say to “microwave on high for 45 seconds”.  Since our microwave only has 10 second intervals, I dialed in at 50 seconds.  You are then to check the doneness by using a toothpick in the center.  Instead of letting it be, even after I thought it was done, I nuked it again for 10 seconds!

I then took the glass jar out.  CAUTION, use oven mitts or a towel!  You can burn the heck out of your hand.  Of course the kitchen now smells heavenly at this point, and I have to elbow the boys out of the way to take the thing out of the microwave.  The cake looks just like one of those ooeeey goooeeey molten chocolate cakes (see above).  Of course, we dove right in.  Here I am checking it with a metal skewer below.  It had to cool off anyway.  Stand back boys, okay?

FINALLY, the spoon gets to take a nosedive.  We did all share…we really did, although my oldest chocolate lover was trying to figure out how to get the last few bits of chocolate goodness out of the jar.  You can see from the photo that the cake is spongy but a bit dry.  I attribute that to user error though….can’t fault Courage Cakes!  I do have one more cake packet to try out.  I was thinking I’ll add another 1/4 TBS of water…just to see if it is more moist.  The ONLY suggestion I could really come up with for the company is to PLEASE INCLUDE A FROSTING PACKET!

Remember those Toaster Strudel things with the frosting packet?  Just like that.  Then I think this would be a perfect and unique gift!  Or even something to take on a camping trip, because I bet you could perfect some kind of Dutch oven technique.  I’m sure the Boy Scouts among us could figure that out.  Thank-you Courage Cakes for your unique idea and also for thinking about others in our community and not just pure profit!!!  Please be sure to stop by their Facebook page, or chat with them on Twitter or of course their website.

Note:  This is NOT a paid advertisement or endorsement.  I was given two Courage Cake packets to try out, and that’s exactly what I did!

Looking forward to a life in the Alps!

My DH came home a few days ago….with a list.  He told me I’d better prepare to copy.  He was getting ready to dictate a bunch of dates, times and events.  Oh boy.  Sharpened pencil in hand, I was ready.

In the end, I had to have him repeat the list twice.  And then one more time for good measure which annoyed him beyond…well, you get the picture.  When someone with a Type A personality talks to someone who doesn’t have as such, it can get a bit tricky.

So, I learned a few things:

• We now have a date for our pre-housing inspection.  This is what I fear most.  I have friends who were given sheets of papers of corrections they needed to make in their rental home.  There is apparently a reason why they come one month out.  I’ve heard (not read) that the standard in Belgium is that there is no wear and tear.  You return the house in perfect condition with freshly painted walls to go along with that perfect.  I am glad I have my own sheets of papers from our moving in inspection where I noted every little crack, NOT freshly painted wall and so on.  I also have photos to back everything up.  I dare them to tell me something different.  Now I’m sort of glad our landlord isn’t the most attentive person in the world and that the housing inspector spent over two hours in our house taking notes when we moved in.
• We’ve got a tentative four days of household good pick up requested.  We have four days, because we have too much crap.  Thankfully, we all have very little bedroom furniture, which should keep us well under our weight limit.
• DH will have to go it alone at the transporatation briefing next week.  I think I’d better arm him with some questions.
• I’ve been told the dates we’ll stay in the home with temp furniture.  Luckily, no temp furniture delivery is needed, because we were able to do an exception to policy to keep the beds, tables and some other temp furniture we were supposed to turn back in.  No more can you keep temp furniture your entire stay in Europe.  Or at least at this duty station.
• We have a date when the temporary furniture will be picked up and have two days to clean the house.  Arrrgggh…only two days?  Guess we’d better get started earlier, especially in our courtyard.  Thank God we don’t have a bonafide yard…just a jungle of bamboo, some bushes and a patio, although that fountain out back hasn’t worked in over a year.  Hope it won’t be a problem in clearing this place.
• Oh BTW, right before the movers come, we need to drive 5 hours to Germany to be in a friend’s change of command and then rush back to continue clearing.  Oh crap, really????
• I interject with, oh, we need to go by the cable/internet folks and put in written paperwork to cancel that too.  Oh right, they are only open one day a week for two hours.  Looks like I will need to miss work to run over there.  DH’s schedule is already too packed.
• DH already had housing take care of the registered letter he had to send to our landlord of our intended move out date.  We are now awaiting a response.  Glad they helped him write it in French.  Our landlord speaks no English.
• Our sponsor gave us a list of kennels down in Garmisch for our kitty.  I am REALLY hoping I can instead find someone in Garmisch who’d be willing to watch him for us.  He is such an easy cat to take care of (I’m hinting here).  But, to be realistic, I’ll be making him a reservation at the Cat Hotel.  We’ll be in the Edelweiss Lodge, so NO PETS allowed.  Amazingly they made room for us, even though when we called, it was full.  Interesting.  I had visions of us all hanging out in a nice vacation hut, preferably right up the mountain.  Looks like we will have “Americaville” instead.
• DH gave me the run down on how they’d do our final utility bill.  They will send a real person to read the meters and then bill us two days after that.  My added note, keep the local bank account OPEN, and make sure money is in there.

I think that’s it.  I think that’s enough for now anyway.  I just talked to my boss and supervisor about quitting work before the school year is over.  I just came to the realization that I will need time off to get all this done and get all of our HHG ready for an easy move.  I guess that means I put in the official paperwork next week.  I’m already sad about having to say good-bye…my least favorite part of moving…but, we all are looking forward to all the new and interesting things our new duty station will hopefully bring.  There’s a silver lining to almost everything!

Hello all!  Welcome to LLMW where I have been blogging since 2007.  I started my blog back in the US, talking about life, life with kids and all those little tips and tricks I have learned from others while moving from place to place with the Army.  When I was a young ‘un, I used to fill little notebooks with stories and thoughts.  Instead of smoking, doing drugs or other things that may not have been healthy, I wrote instead.  I wrote a lot.  Fast forward to present day.  Blogging was only a natural extension of that.  Then I got this bright idea….

The beginnings of my blogging days....

Why not start talking about how I’ve learned from my life lessons and the life lessons of everyone else too while I was at it.  Maybe someone else can benefit from my screw-ups and even the screw-ups of my friends.  About that time, we were off on another move to Germany…I think it was our third one if my memory hasn’t faded on me yet.

This blog then morphed into:

• PCSing/moving (because I have done it enough times)
• Traveling (because living in Europe is something that most of us military folks agree is something we should be spending money on without guilt)
• Life as a military wife (because I am)
• Life with children (because I have, two boys in fact)
• Life with all things the military and specifically, the Army (because I was an Army brat, was in the Army myself and then married an Army guy all in that order)

Loved to walk the trails with my big baby!

Two years ago, we were stationed in Germany.  Of course I blogged about that and also our travels and everything in between.

When we saw the orders for SHAPE, Belgium, our first thought was, “What the hell is SHAPE, Belgium and what American military people could be there???”…..then “Oh, that’s right, we forgot all about our HUGE role in NATO, hence Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe or SHAPE.”

The boys in my life!

We spent two fun years up here in a country that is so different from Germany, we might as well be on another continent.  To say we went through culture shock is an understatement.  You can see my blog is full of our greenhorn experiences in Belgium.  They continue to this very day.

Now, we’ve gotten another set of orders.  This time BACK to Germany….a rare event indeed to have THREE back-to-back European tours!  To say we are over the moon is a big understatement!  I spilled the beans earlier this week on my blog’s Facebook page that we will be running around in Garmisch, Germany, our new duty assignment.  I feel it is safe to say it  out loud since I have seen the paper copy of the orders not just some electronic message.  I say safe but not a 100% surity.  You know Army life.  Things can change in a heartbeat, and I always said until I have my butt on a plane or carseat, I have not really moved to our new location just yet.

So, in the next few weeks, watch as it gets VERY hectic around here as we sort everything out!  This move is a bit unique, since we won’t be flying but driving our cars across one border into Germany.  We will have a cat and two kids in tow.  Our stuff will be delivered by a big moving truck (maybe two or three if you count all the crap I plan to take with us).  At this point, I am unclear if we are talking big wooden shipping crates or not.  I am pretty much going to demand crates…it is more secure than a bunch of loose boxes, and we DID have those crates when we moved from Germany to Belgium. I am going to be sure to point that out, budget cuts be damned.

I want to thank my Nutella-friend Household 6 Diva.  She has been a inspiration to all us bloggers, especially to us overseas, and I am sorry to hear she will be leaving us and going back stateside…but look forward to what she has to say about how things have changed over there.  I’m sure they have.  I want to hear more about the land of the “Big PX” from someone who hasn’t been there in awhile.  I also want to thank RC of Riding the Roller Coaster, as I have just been introduced to her and her bloggings and look forward to connecting with her too.

I hope you stick around!  I’ve met some wonderful people through this blog, and I hope you will come back and visit, especially if you want to see what life is like in Europe!

Please be sure to check out ALL the wonderful military spouse bloggers already connected in the 2012 Military Spouse Appreciation Bloghop!  Be sure to go get a cup of coffee or tea…and maybe some snacks!  There are over 100 wonderful milspouse bloggers to wade through!

At this point, I am so glad that over 2,000 of you have joined me in this venture, either by subscribing to the blog or joining me on Facebook.  In fact, subscribers are closer to 3,000 people at this point.  Wow, I’m thinking.  That’s a lot of people!

I recently had a giveaway for what I thought would be a useful and neat item, a Flip camera.  I guess I thought it was neat because I have one.  Sometimes I have tunnel vision, and I think because I really, really like something and carry it with me everywhere, everyone else will like it too.  I was a little surprised that the giveaway only received 100 entries…or just over that.

That of course got me thinking about comments on blogposts and on Facebook, and I realized that not many readers respond on much that I write.  In fact, the only way I know anyone reads anything here is from the dozen or so emails I get a day from readers.  This is really my only indication that anyone is out there, other than a few of you who do stop by and say hello on the blog or Facebook (THANK-YOU).

So that’s where I hurt my feelings…somewhere in between thinking of what I should write about next AND realizing that no one wants to interact with me.  There, I said it.

I’m not looking for sympathy. I guess I am looking for validation of should I continue to write (because it’s evident I don’t just write for myself anymore but in my quest to help others, my writing/advice has exploded)?  Should I not do giveaways anymore as no one seems to be interested in either what I am offering here or do the readers who visit…are you just not interested in the giveaway craziness in general (I am a little like that myself sometimes).

Please be honest.  Post below if you have anything you’d like to add.  If you’d like to see this blog go a different direction or stop all together (meaning I’m not doing such a good job), please be honest.  When I was little, I used to fill volumes of notebooks with writings on just about any topic.  I did it for fun, and I promise it won’t hurt my feelings if you are honest with me and tell me in so many words, maybe I should go back to that!

OK, so interested to hear your ideas and thoughts…this blog was intended for my readers, and if I can’t produce, then I need to move on or do something else, huh?

Plitvice National Park

OK, so it wasn’t ME who went there recently but a friend Amy Fryman who GRACIOUSLY offered up a review and WONDERFUL photos of her trip! While I was down in Spain getting rained on, Amy was enjoying the wonderful sights and food in Croatia at minimal cost!  It’s funny, because I had yet another friend also go to Zadar the same Spring Break week!  Please see below for her recommendations and why she thinks you should go experience it too (and of course comments from me, as I can’t seem to keep things to myself as always).

Review on 4 Days in Zadar, Croatia

Ryanair offers reasonable flights from Charleroi, Belgium to Zadar, Croatia. Car parking at the airport is about 15 euro per day.

Booking.com had very high ratings for Villa Valentina (Otona Ivekovica 20, Zadar). They were absolutely correct. We paid about 75 euro a night for a family of 4 in April. It’s located in a residential area about a 10 minute walk to the beach. The hotel is actually several apartments in the same building. The third floor has adjoining rooms and could accommodate up to 10 people. All are quite modern and some have kitchens. A free breakfast is included…standard cold offerings but also the option to order fresh eggs and ham. What sets this place apart is Anna…the proprietor. She was in contact with us from the first day I made the reservation up until she put us on the taxi back to the airport. She was so helpful in assisting with great restaurants, tours, taxis, rental cars and everything our large group needed.

Beach near Villa Valentina

Just a couple of blocks from the hotel is a fantastic Italian restaurant called Restaurant Sime Pizzeria (Matije Gupca 15, Zadar). A full dinner for a family of 4 was less than 40 euro. The tortellini is to-die-for…the calzones were no-kidding larger than your head!

Money is the Croatian Kuna. When we went…it was about 5 kuna to the US dollar and 7 kuna to the euro. It was easy to find cash machines to pull from. Most all places we went took cash only. Anna was great about rolling the cost of the airport taxis (20 euro per family) and the tours into our room bill so we paid all at once.

The first day…after lunch and a nap because it’s a very early flight…we took taxis downtown. It’s about a 3 mile walk, so too far with kids. There’s a company called Taxi Lulic (+385 (0)23/494-494) that charges 30 kuna ($6) to go anywhere within a 5 km radius. We used them there and back.

We wandered around the Old Town area and had a great dinner at Konoba Stomorica…again less than 50 euro for a family of 4. Along the water is a sea organ…the waves and wind play ‘music’. It is very cool to hear and kind of eerie at night. Also…in the same area is ’Greeting to the Sun’. It’s a solar pad that lights up all different colors and patterns. Very fun for the kids.

Greetings to the Sun Solar Pad

The second day…some from our group took a trip to Plitvice National Park. This is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to!!! The tour was about $50 per person for a group of 6. The drive was about 1 hour and 45 min. The driver took us and picked us up about 6 hours later…exhausted but happy. Admission to the park was 110 kuna ($22) for adults and 55 ($11) for kids. There is a self serve restaurant and coffee bar on site…but Anna offered to let us pack sandwiches which was great for a picnic. I believe there are over 100 waterfalls and so many beautiful pools of sparkling turquoise water. I’ve heard it gets very busy in the summer…but there were times we had the path to ourselves in April. We saw snow on the drive up…so we were concerned that we’d all get very cold. The day ended up being great, but I’d pack layers.

One thing I will say though…this park is not for small children unless you can carry them in a backpack. The paths are narrow wooden beams maybe only 5 or 6 feet wide. Lots of steps so a stroller won’t work. There’s water on both sides in many places including large drop offs. My 11 year old was fine. There were times when I made the 7 year old hold my hand. I would not recommend it for any child under 5…and any child that goes needs to listen well and have adequate supervision.

If you can’t make the long trek to Plitvice, there’s also another national park within about 40 min. called Kkra. They have some waterfalls and some of the same pretty turquoise water. There’s also a swimming beach which they don’t have at Plitvice.

That evening, we had dinner at a place called Niko’s on the waterfront in Old Town.  It was definitely more expensive and fancier than the other two restaurants we’d eaten at.  The food was OK, but our food took well over an hour to come which was difficult with children.  I’m not sure if it was the size of our group or what…but smaller groups seemed to get their food faster.  Price was around 60-70 euro for a family of 4.

On the 3rd day, we had planned to take a boat tour to Kornati National Park. The weather ended up being too rough. Anna assisted us with getting rental cars, so we drove south along the coastal road. You can easily drive to Split, an hour and a half away, but we didn’t get going very early so we went to Sibernik about 45 min away. Nice little town to walk around…and we had a nice lunch on the water. To rent a van that seated 6-7 was about $115 for 24 hours. Small car was maybe $50 or so. Company provided transportation to and from.

Sibernik waterfront

Our last day there…Anna kept the bags and we set out early for Kornati National Park. The tour boat was about 35 euro per adult and half that for kids. Taxis took us to the tour boat. Boat was decent…top was open air and bottom was protected in case you got cold. The park is made up of a hundred and some islands and gorgeous water. We stopped for an hour at an inlet. The kids played in the water on the rocky beach. Water was cold, but so clear. Next we stopped in a fishing village for an hour or so. Thought we’d get to go to an inland lake shown on the poster in the hotel, but I guess it was too early in the year. Lunch on the boat was not so appetizing…choice of fried fish or not so nice pork chop. Salad was OK.  I’d recommend bringing your own lunch and snacks. You can buy beverages on board. Overall…a good day trip just for the scenery.

Croatia is beautiful, clean, refreshingly affordable and friendly. Customer service is important.  Almost everyone we interacted with spoke English. I would highly recommend it for a quick get-away or a longer vacation!  We hope to go back again someday soon!

THANKS to Amy for that thoughtful and awesome review!  I encourage all my readers to share their experiences, photos and whatever else you’d like to share!  All you have to do is email your info to info “at” lifelessonsmilitarywife.com!

I’ve been to Croatia only a few times, mostly to the walled city of Dubrovnik which gets overrun by cruise passengers in season and then also to the quaint little seaside resort of Opatija.  Opatija is nice, because it used to be a resort for the movers and shakers at the turn of the century, with wonderful walking trails connecting the towns, wonderful food, groomed beaches (well, actually concrete breakwalls with stairs, since there is only a rocky coast here) and lots of nice places to visit nearby, including some halfway deserted islands.  It is also reachable by car if you want to go beyond Slovenia from Germany (we drove from the K-town/Kaiserlautern area).  On the way, you can do an overnight at the Lipizzaner stud farm (Lipica) in Slovenia…a real treat and much less expensive than the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria.  Plus, if you go in the Spring, you get to see all the little babies play.  This is where the horses originally come from you know.  Or, if you really want to be different and maybe have more time…and funds…take the ferry across from Venice, Italy.

Whatever you do, don’t discount Croatia as being too far away!  It is truly unspoiled countryside!  When I was a little girl in Germany, the spaghetti Westerns were REALLY big…I mean, big enough that all us little kids ran around in Indian and Cowboy costumes throughout the entire summer thanks to the German author Karl May and his wonderful and exciting tales of Winnetou and Old Shatterhand.  They were called spaghetti westerns, because they were produced and directed by Italians, filmed in Spain and parts of Italy.  Yeah, Spain and Italy were good stand-ins for what parts of our Old West (in the USA) looked like…no really.  Then someone got REALLY smart and said let’s save even more money and some were filmed in Croatia and Slovenia, then Yugoslavia.  I’ll never forget my first trip to Slovenia and Croatia by car, and the first thing that struck me after crossing the border from Austria was how absolutely green and lush EVERYTHING was.  I remember it making me homesick for the United States and then realized it was my brain’s perception of the “Old West” which had me longing for home!  I share this story to encourage you to see how truly beautiful it is there and here comes that word…unspoiled…unspoiled by the Capitalist West…even to this day.  So go see it..don’t take my word for it!  Then come back here and tell us all about your adventures.

Keep ‘em coming!!!

Photos courtesy of Amy Fryman