Le Castle Miracle

Heidelberg
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After Oktoberfest, and really after our three full weeks of Europe we needed a place to rest our feet and get back to neutral.  A trip up to see our friends Rob and Jessica Miracle (yes their last name is Miracle) at their place in Heidelberg was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Jessica is a nurse in the army, and has been stationed in Heidelberg for the last few years with her husband Rob.  We were great friends in college, and had been anxiously awaiting seeing them on their new stomping ground.  Unfortunately for our timing, however, we ended up making our way up there the week before Jess was being deployed to Iraq for a 15 month tour of duty.  Poor timing to say the least.  Knowing this coming in we decided before arriving that we would just stay a couple of days so that they could have some peaceful time before she left.  This thought vanished almost immediately when we arrived to their place to find a home!  Oh sweet sweet home...

Us
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Their house was filled with all of the goodies and amenities of home that we have really grown to miss over the last eight months.  Couches, free internet, american tv channels with live football feeds, dogs, and most impressively:  American food.  Since they live near the base they are able to take full advantage of the grocery store that is filled with all of the amazing food that we have come to know and love over the last 24 years.  Now this might seem ridiculous to some, but for everyone who has traveled for extended periods you know that the sight of familiar anything is enough to send you into a state of euphoria.  And a State of Euphoria would be the only way to describe Suz and I as we walked down the isles of the base grocery store.  Wasting little time we immediately decided to BBQ hamburgers the day we arrived on their beautiful new grill...see photo.

Pan 2
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Our days at the Miracles´ place were slow and awesome.  We just hung out as though we were at home.  We had American coffee in the morning, dogs to play with, doritos in the cupboard, and great people to hang out with.  We felt bad because poor Jess was understandably stressed, but they kept telling us to stick around, and given the situation we were not a hard sell.

At the end of the week Rob and Jess decided to take us down to a small town on the Austrian boarder, right at the foot of the Alps, to stay for a night at this awesome military resort.  Now i know what some of you are thinking...military resort, how nice could it be?  Let me tell you, this place was a winter lodge right out of a Lake Tahoe Ski Resort.  For 150 dollars we got a huge suite with two bathrooms, a balcony looking out at the Alps, and two huge beds.  Amazing!  Inside the hotel was a nice restaurant where we got a bottle of wine, California wine to be exact, Salmon, Pork Chops, Steaks, ect. for like 20 bucks a person.  After dinner we went down to the huge pool-sized hot tub, and then had a nighcap in another bar.  Its was a topnotch place.

Us in Heidelberg
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The following day we headed through Austria (becasue it was apparently shorter) to another part of Germany to see the famous Neuschwanstein Castle.  The drive itself through the Alps was treat enough for us, but the Castle itself was amazing!  If you look at the photos you will likely recognize the castle.  If not then you will easily see the similarities between it and the Disney Castle, as it was the model around which Disney designed theirs.  After touring the actual castle we then headed across the valley to get the famous photo of the castle nestled atop the hill that overlooks the huge valley.  Pretty impressive to say the least.

Pedro
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After a nice hike through the woods, which was made amazing by the beautiful fall colors, we headed back to Heidelberg for more nothingness.  And that is about how we spent the next couple of days, just hanging around the house with Rob, Jess, and the dogs.  It was glorious!

When the time came to leave we were far from ready, but it had to be done.  We sadly said goodby, and walked away...from home...again.  We wish Jess the best in Iraq, a situation that is so foreign to us that we can not even imagine the stresses.  We are looking forward to seeing them again the next chance we get.  Thanks again you guys.