Baumholder

Oh, Baumholder. The quaint little village that we call home. It sits in the midst of a beautiful landscape, on a rise in the hills. There's not much to it, but I must say that I do love it, and the view from my window. I look out into those hills and see the fingerprint of God. It's absolutely beautiful...bathed by the sun, blanketed in the snow, lingering in the fog. Before coming here I was awfully skeptical. Anyone I knew who had been here hadn't had the greatest things to say about it. I think that's because they didn't take the time to get to know it, or appreciate it. While true it may not be much to see at first glance, once you take a closer look, take the time to learn the history, and believe me there's much history here, you can't help but fall in love. I did a little research and found out a thing or two about this little village and thought I'd share it with you.

For about 6 decades Baumholder has been a town of two nations. Germans and Americans live together as one. Our respect for one another has created and atmosphere of harmony and a place that is more than just a residential township. Baumholder began humbly as a farming community; families have tended to this land for centuries. Throughout those centuries, this town has suffered the destruction of war, occupation by foreign forces and starvation. For most people, Baumholder, a town of roughly 7,000 inhabitants, is just a place, somewhere in Germany, and for most of them it holds all the negative aspects of a troop training area (there's also a German training post here). However, there's much more to this town that's been around since about 500 A.D. if you take the time to stop and look.

I took a walk around town a few weeks ago with my friend, Monica and Buck and I took Brady to the lake in town. Along the way, I got a few great pictures. I thought I'd share them with you, along with a local favorite of ours...spaghetti eis from the Eis Cafe, a little ice cream shop in town.

This is my favorite picture of the bunch. We just happened upon the back of this old church and I snapped this shot...what's so cool about it is that I recently bought a watercolor print of this exact picture at a bazaar!

Spaghetti Eis...Not what you were expecting? It's vanilla ice cream put through a press to look like spaghetti. It's piled on top of whipped cream and topped with strawberry compote and coconut shavings...YUM!

I think this is the courthouse.

A window box alive with the color of spring.

I couldn't resist photographing these little girls. Each of their personalities came out in the photo. Can you guess who's the leader of the pack?

The Hotel Berghof...where we spent our first night in town upon arriving in Germany. The beds are not made for pregnant women in their 3rd trimester! :)

An old tower that's stood the test of time.

The view from our window.

The lake...

Brady really enjoyed feeding the ducks and running wild around the lake!

By the end of the trip, Brady had worn himself out and was in no mood to pose for pictures! :)