Deutschland, oh Deutschland!

Before we inundate you with pictures of bella Italia, we thought we'd leave you with some fond memories of Germany. We are happy to be here now, but don't get us wrong -- we really were blessed to have the times we did in Germany. It was a surprisingly comforting, secure, and peaceful place to be while Zeke was deployed, and it felt like home for the time we lived there.

Here are some pictures for you from one of our final vacation spots!

Pottenstein, Bayern, Deutschland.

In this fabulous little village nestled between our Bamberg post and the Grafenwöhr base,

we found so many treasures! 

The first treasure was a guesthouse with a restaurant much like the "Steak On A Stone" concepts in the States. Zeke ordered a 26 oz. bone-in ribeye... Liam I and shared a plate of kangaroo, wild boar, wild hare, and crocodile. I'm not joking. The meats came out to us completely rare and sitting on a sizzling hot stone, with herb butter and dipping sauces to use as you please. We cut it ourselves, cooked the meat to our liking, and ate until we had no room left to breathe. AMAZING. And the rooms there for lodging were wonderful! We would have stayed for an entire weekend, but the weather was rough and we rolled out the morning after our gorgefest. We knew we would definitely be back.

The reason for our guaranteed return? There are actually two:

Frankenrodel & Frankenbob (ROLLERCOASTERS!!). This rollercoaster park is so cool! One of the fun things about Germany is that the facilities don't strictly regulate what you can do with your kids. The German places provide safe, fun, crazy environments, and you make the parental decision whether your child is old enough to handle the attraction. I hated the fact that I was never tall enough to ride anything in the U.S. until I was like 20 years old. I mean, come on! Anyhoo, it was a blast. Liam went down it several times, first with this slow-ass gal and then with his way cooler speed demon Daddy. SO FUN! Oh, did I mention the rollercoaster carts are individually operated? As in, the Germans trust people to man their own little carts? WHOA.

And, in true German fashion, the amusement park also had a bouncy house, a creepy bungee-jumping matrix, and ice cream. Oh, Deutschland.

Teufelshöhle (the Devil's Cave). This natural cave is the longest cave in all of Deutschland. It isn't as scary as it sounds. The cave gets its name from the legend that the Devil guarded the cave and lured various livestock and wild animals to come into the cave for an untimely death. Skeletal remains of various animals were found in the cave, including a humongous cave bear skeleton reconstructed and put on display in the cave. The tour was given in both Deutsch and English, but Liam was as good a narrator of the surroundings as any professional cave explorer.

Enjoy the pictures, and get yourselves ready for Italia in the coming posts!