auf wiedersehen Volksfest!

The Volksfest is being broken down as we speak! And not a moment too soon! If it stayed much longer, our bellies would be huge (In my case, even huger. That's right...I said huger.) and our pockets empty. With the festival so close, it was easy to frequently sample the tasty treats. This weekend we went to the Fest a few times, meeting up a couple of the times with one of Jerry's co-workers. There was much drinking (though not as much as last weekend), much eating, and much fun. Last night marked the last night of the Fest, so we went one last time. Until then, we had stayed away from the rides, primarily because of how much they cost. Each ride was 3.5 to 4.5 Euros, which ends up being about 5-7 US dollars per person. And we're cheap. So we didn't want to spend $14 for the two of us to go on a ride. Jerry's friend convinced us to do a couple last night and they were superfun! Well, one was superfun. The other was interesting. First we went on a little roller coaster which was surprisingly exciting for being in such a little space. I'm glad we waited until the last night to ride because I would have wanted to come back and ride again and again! The other ride was a simulated underwater ride. We sat in this huge enclosed tube with a screen at the front that projected an underwater adventure as the tube moved around. The graphics were pretty lame and the whole thing was in German, so it was more amusing than anything else. Actually, it was more hot than anything else. The three of us left the ride fanning ourselves and drenched in sweat. But overall, the Volksfest was great fun!

Although it took a few weeks to fully set up the Fest, the rides are coming down lightning fast! By the time I took my big walk today around noon, several of the rides had already been dissembled. When I began my walk the giant ferris wheel was already naked, stripped of the "Jupiter" lettering in the middle and all of the seats. Less than an hour later, there was only half a wheel, the left side had been completely dismantled. Here's a picture of the ferris wheel from a distance (before it was taken apart), just to give you an idea of how large it really is:

Our weekend wasn't entirely devoted to the Volksfest. We made another trip to Bamberg on Sunday. In Germany, nothing is really open on Sundays so it wasn't much of a tourist trip to the city. Instead, we were visiting the Army post in Bamberg, interested in seeing if their post had a better PX than our own. Going to the post certainly made me appreciate where I live a little bit more. Though I love living in Germany, I've made no secret of the fact that I'm not thrilled with the Army aspect of my life. I'm not a big fan of the posts or the military housing. After visiting the Bamberg post, I'm better able to appreciate things about our own post that are really not so bad. The layout of our posts is much more convenient and overall I really like Schweinfurt better. Sometimes it takes seeing something else to appreciate what you've got :)

We went bowling this weekend too! I'm still bad, but it was pretty comical how vastly different my scores were from game to game. During one game (is it called a string?), I bowled a 31! Don't think I'm missing a number. It's actually 31. The next game, I bowled a 107 (and beat Jerry)! Consistent, I'm not. As usual, it was lots o' fun!

Yesterday, I started my German class. It was fun and I was able to meet some people. My husband surprised me by taking me out to lunch on post afterwards, so that was pretty nice. I think the class is going to be helpful in refreshing my German and is going to help give a little structure to my weeks.

Today is a day all about me! I slept in this morning. I took a nice 4 mile walk, with Scooter joining me for the first mile. I went grocery shopping and was able to get ingredients for my chicken, tortellini and spinach soup, which I will make later today. I'm about to take a nice bath, where I will be starting a new book. And then I plan on watching some Anne of Green Gables, one of my favorite things to watch since I was a teenager. It's so nice to have this time to relax.