Richard Löwenherz Fest

Today we drove about an hour to the village of Annweiler am Trifels for their Richard the Lionheart festival. Richard the Lionheart was held captive at Trifels Castle near Annweiler for a huge randsom. The clocks turn back during this weekend in Annweiler to the Middle Ages and features a medieval market. We enjoyed walking around this adorable village while listening to authentic medieval music and watching show fights, archery, a puppetry and much more. It was also fun going by each booth and watching goldsmiths, potters, cloth-weavers, knife sharpeners and other craftsmen presenting their arts and crafts. We also got to enjoy lots of delicious food!. It is € 6 for adults to enter the festival.   

Address: Altenstrasse 10, 76855 Annweiler am Trifels 

 Here is a map of the festival

Came across this on our walk to the festival and really wanted it for Rand's room, lol.

Kaiserslautern Farmers' Market

Every Tuesday and Saturday morning Kaiserslautern’s pedestrian zone is full of farmers selling fresh fruits, vegetables, fresh flowers, cheeses, eggs, honey, baked goods and much more. You can also find lots of fresh meats and fish. You can easily grab a coffee, pastry or bratwurst at a vendor at the market for a quick bite to eat or go to one of the many restaurants nearby. 

Do not worry if you are not fluent in Deutsch. Many of the vendors speak some English. Just remember to be extra friendly and smile.  Some easy phrases (that I even write down on a paper and keep in my pocket) are: “Ich hatte gerne _______” (I would like ___) and “Vos costet das?” (What does this cost?). If you forget or are too nervous, just smile, point, and say "bitte" (please) and “danke”(thank you) and the sellers will help you with the rest!

Parking: Kaiserslautern has tons of parking garages but we favor the Q-Park near the theatre

Stiftspl. 1, 67655 Kaiserslautern

Farmer's Market Address: Stiftsplatz, 67655 Kaiserslautern

Tips:

-Bring lots of smaller euros (like 1, 2 and 5 euros)

-Bring your own grocery bag(s)

-Bring a cooler if buying meat or fish

-Bring a translator

a hike around our village

Today the heatwave took a break and so we decided to go for a little hike near our village, Hauptstuhl. We only hiked a few 

hours but it was nice to get out of the house and test my 

"new eyes" outside. We walked down to the end of 

Thomas-Mann Strasse and came across a WWI memorial. 

We started into the woods after the memorial.

 *Rob and I did not plan on matching, lol. I think we spend a little too much time together ;)

 the cutest house in our village

walking back home

ICL

I received my first pair of glasses at 18 months old. Yes, you read that right, MONTHS! My parents actually got yelled at by my Doctor because I should have gotten them way earlier. I have horrible eye sight. Besides having severe astigmatism, I had strabismus as well. When I was about 6, I started wearing an eye patch to strengthen my eyes to prevent getting surgery for my strabismus. After years of eye patches, I improved enough to please my Ophthalmologist. 

Fast forward 10 or so years, I was tired of my bottle lens glasses. They were thick and heavy…and certainly not appealing from a cosmetic basis. My prescription was so intense and I hated wearing my glasses. I was very involved with sports (softball & field hockey) and I didn't want the disruption of glasses. I heard of Lasik and my Mom and I researched a ton about it but my eyes were just too bad to be a good candidate. My senior year in high school, my wish came true! I got my first pair of Toric contact lens. They were very pricey but so were my eye glasses (over $1,000 just for my eye glasses prescription!). I remember my first time showing off my new glasses free look at my senior prom. I was so excited!

I couldn't find a prom pic but here I am in high school

Freshman in college. My first full year of contacts.

I just turned 29 and have been wearing contacts for about 13 years. I have always been content with them... besides the price. It has been about 8 years since I saw an Ophthalmologist (by the way, a HUGE difference between an Optometrist & an Ophthalmologist). Because of my insurance, I needed to see an Optometrist first to get a referral for an Ophthalmologist. I really lucked out on this. Since we are stationed overseas in Germany, I got to see a military doctor. I know it doesn't sound so great since military doctors and military healthcare gets a pretty bad rap, but this experience has changed my opinion on that. After seeing a wonderful Optometrist, I got to see the Ophthalmologist a few days later. I got tons of eye tests done. I honestly lost count on how many machines I looked into to measure this and that of my eyes. The Ophthalmologist found out that I have a thinning cornea, called  karacatonus. What the doctor told me was that I could go my whole life without any issues but I could also need a cornea transplant in my life. I asked if something could be done about it along with asking about Lasik to help my 

eyesight. That is when I first heard about Implantable  Contact Lens (ICL). I was a perfect candidate for it. It would not only prevent the 

karacatonus from getting worse, but correct my eyesight as well! It took a few months to get approved for a waiver, since I was a military spouse and not active duty myself. After that, I got my new lens ordered and after a month, got my surgery scheduled! 

My Doctor decided to do one eye at a time with a few days in between. I got my right eye done first and everything went smoothly! I honestly couldn't have asked for a better experience and result! A few days later, I got my left eye done and it didn't go as well as the first. I was very anxious and didn't get as much anesthesia as the other day. As a result, my eye was stressed and ended up having to get a stitch put in. Something about my iris popping out or something like that. i honestly shut down and didn't want to hear anymore after he said that, lol. 

where the magic happened

As soon as I got home from my first day of getting ICL, I went straight to bed and napped for a few hours. I was exhausted. They really gave me lots of meds to relax me. After I woke, I went back to see my Doctor to check my pressure. It was at 20, which was my normal pressure before the ICL. I was not in any pain but it felt like there was something in my eye - like a piece of hair. That is normal. My eyes were very red from the surgical and corneal irritation. I had two different drops to put in my eye every 2 hours along with wearing a fun eye patch to protect my eye. My son was very scared of the patch. He wouldn't come near me the first few hours I had it on. I admit I wore the patch religiously on the right eye, but not so much on the other eye, a few days later. I was so excited because I could see! I was thrilled when I had an eye exam and saw just as well as I did before with my contacts 20/30. I had no issues with seeing with my right eye. My left eye, I have had that feeling that a hair is in my eye for longer. I am sure it is the stitch though. I go back in two weeks to get it removed :/ My vision is also a bit blurry and hazy in my left eye. My Doctor said it is normal. My eyes are still healing so I need to continue the drops but to now 4 times a day, not every 2 hours. I do not need to wear the patched except at night and no makeup or get water in them for another week. 

my lovely eyepatch

I donated all my glasses (except one) and threw away my contacts. I admit, at times I have been a bit frustrated. My whole life I have had corrective lenses where I can remove in the evening to "wind down" and get ready for bed. I no longer can do that and its been an adjustment. However, it is an amazing feeling to wake up and not have to grab my glasses to see my son run into our room in the morning!

my LAST pair of eyeglasses