Mannheim

On Saturday some friends of ours gave us a call to see if we were free.  One of them, Penny, had recently changed jobs and was moving from Stuttgart to Heidelberg.  She wanted to know if we wanted to head up there with her and two other friends of ours to check an apartment out, then head over to Mannheim for an Easter Market.  We had nothing else going on, so we said sure.

The apartment we looked at with her was nice, and we think that's the one she's going to go with.  It's a new place, and is only a 5 minute walk from base.  After we were done there, we grabbed a bite to eat, and drove to Mannheim.

The Easter Market was in a park, and it was one we'd never heard of it.  Turns out it's a HUGE park that has flowers, a mini-zoo, a Chinese garden, and large spaces for people to have picnics, relax, or do whatever you want.  There was even a boat ride you could take throughout the park.  The first thing we noticed when we walked in were all the tulips.

After a few minutes of walking around, we came to the indoor area where they had all the Easter Egg vendors set up.  The vendors came from all over Europe...they had signs up from Russia, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and more.  Painted Easter Eggs are a big deal over here...they can be little chicken eggs, or as large as Ostrich eggs..sometimes they are even made from wood.  The prices ranged too...the cheap small ones were a few Euros and larger more intricate ones were several hundred Euros.

We didn't end up buying any eggs because a few days prior Shanna had gotten a great deal on a bunch of eggs that someone was selling on Stuttgart Yard Sales (the local version of Craigslist).  But it was neat to see all the intricate designs and paintings that were there.  Afterwards we walked around the park, then it was time to head home.

The eggs Shanna got look pretty good...she still has some of the metal trees left over from the wedding, and she decorated one at the house and one at her office with the eggs.

There wasn't much else going on this past weekend.  This upcoming weekend kicks off Frühlingfest (Spring Fest), which runs from April 23 - May 15th.  It's basically the same thing as Oktoberfest, but in the Spring time.  And of course, Sunday is Easter.  I'll have a weekend recap up next Monday or Tuesday.

Tonight we're heading to a co-worker of Shanna's house for a cook out.  What makes this outing unique is he's German, so I'll have a chance to practice all night.

We didn't take too many pictures, but there was more then I could post here without it looking cluttered.  You can see them by clicking here or any pictures above.