I know it's been awhile since the last post, so I figured I'd put up a short post to say hello. Not a whole lot has been going on over the past few weeks. Shanna & I have been enjoying spending relaxing weekends at home with College Football & the NFL. We are starting to get used to big time difference when it comes to games. Now we can have productive days, come home, and watch football that night. The College games start at 6pm on Saturday, and the NFL games start at 7pm on Sunday. With the NFL & ESPN ticket we bought, we can watch all the games on demand too, so for the games that start at 1 or 2 in the morning, we can watch the next day when we get up.
Not too much new on the job front...the hiring manager that I spoke with last month has been keeping me posted on the job announcement. It finally went up last week, and it closes next week. Since the manager has kept me in the loop on it, I feel good about chances of getting the job, but we'll see.
I've started taking German Level 2 classes. It's amazing how much you retain when you're surrounded by it all day, every day. I've learned more German in the past 5 months (WOW, I can't believe it's been that long already) then I did Spanish in the four years I took it in High School. I decided to go with the same teacher Shanna & I had for our level 1 class...she's funny, patient, and what I like the most is she tailor's her corrections based on each student. Meaning, if a person is struggling and makes a mistake, she'll correct the major problems and not nit pick on the small stuff. For the people who are picking it up faster, she'll nitpick on little details. Wir Lernen, aber wir haben viel mehr lernen. (We are learning, but we have a lot more to learn).
Finally, plans for the next month. This weekend a friend of ours from DC who lives in Heidelberg now is coming to town for Stuttgart's Volksfest, their version of Oktoberfest. Next Thursday Shanna couldn't get off work, but I'm going with some friends to München for Oktoberfest. I'm REALLY looking forward to that...it's the 200th anniversary of it, so I'm definitely keeping my eye out for some specialty beer glasses / steins. A week from Saturday we have tickets with some friends for a reserved table at Volksfest.
It's amazing how fast time flies...our Anniversary is in 3 weeks. We kicked around various ideas, and decided to keep it within driving distance this year. Salzburg, Austria, is only a 3 1/2 hour drive from Stuttgart, so we're going there from Oct. 16 - 20th. I'm really looking forward to it...the town is supposed to be beautiful and it'll be nice to get away for a few days with just the two of us (the dogs are staying at the kennel).
So over the next few weeks I'll be posting more & putting pictures of Austria & Oktoberfest.
Hope everyone is doing well...stay tuned!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Prague
For Labor Day weekend, Shanna & I decided we wanted to travel. It was a four day weekend for her, so we talked with some of our friends and settled on Prague in the Czech Republic. Shanna had always wanted to visit there, and I want to visit as many different places as possible while we're here. I'd received an email about an Autumn Beer festival going on during that weekend, so we figured now was the best time to go. We've made some friends while here, and they wanted to go to, so we made it a big group trip.
On Friday I dropped the dogs off at a kennel, our friends met at our house, and we hit the road. The drive was supposed to take about 4 1/2 hours, but we stopped for lunch, gas, and we hit traffic when we got into Prague, so it ended up taking closer to 5 1/2 hours. Once we got to our hotel, we unpacked, got settled, and headed out to the beer festival.
On the other side of the bridge we entered the Jewish Ghetto. It was a Saturday, and thus their Sabbath, so nothing was open, but we still got to see the sites. One place that stood out to me (due to it's age) was the oldest Synagogue still in use today. It's name translates to "The Old New Synagogue" and it was completed in 1270.
Some other notable things we saw was a bridge which had a bunch of locks attached to it. The story goes that it's good luck for a couple to attach a lock to the bridge, then toss the key into the stream underneath it. We saw a wall called "The Lennon Wall". After John Lennon was killed, people in Prague dedicated this wall to him, and would spray paint quotes from his songs, or Beatles songs, on it. At the time the city was under Communist control, and the words of "freedom" that the Beatles & Lennon sang about ran counter to their message, so every day they'd paint over the wall. By the next morning, though, people had spray painted it all over again. Now it's mostly just used for people to sign their names and spray paint things on it. In the city square that the tour ended in there was a huge Astronomical Clock. It showed when the days would be longer or shorter, the time, and much more, but unless you had a legend that explained what was what, you'd never figure it out. Every hour it would open doors above it and show rotating figures, then a guy at the top of the clock plays a trumpet. When you click on the link at the bottom, or any of the pictures in this post, you'll be taken to all the pictures, which includes a video of the clock at the hour mark. I'm sure most, if not all, of you know how the European police cars & ambulances sound like...it's not the same sound the ones in the US make. While we were in Prague, though, some Police cars flew by us and they made the same sound as the US ones! It immediately stood out...it's amazing how fast you get used to the European sirens, to the point where the US sirens sound different & unusual.
The boat tour was interesting, but the guy giving the tour was up front, and we were in the back. There was a family back there from Madrid, so they had a tour guide back there giving the guide in Spanish. After not having used Spanish since High School, I was surprised how much I remembered. While I didn't catch everything she said, I understood a lot more then I thought I would.
Once the tour was over, we were beat. We'd been walking all day so we decided to find a little cafe to sit and have some drinks at. Right next to the cafe was a huge chair...I thought I'd be able to sit in it and have my feet touch the ground, but this thing was just too big.
Everyone was pretty worn out that evening, so we spent 45 minutes in the Casino back at the hotel, then called it a night.
The next day some of our friends took off. They had only reserved Friday & Saturday night so they could get some things done at home. That meant it was Shanna, myself, and our two friends (who you might recognize from the Ulm & Eagle's Nest trip), Jenny & Chris. They are both our age, and moved here from Milwaukee, WI. Shanna & I have gotten to be really good friends with them over the past few months, and they've become our travel buddies. Sunday morning we took the metro down town and leisurely walked around. The day prior we'd been constantly on the move because we were on a tour, but now we could go back to the places we wanted to explore more and take our time. Mostly that meant checking out the shopping there. That evening we headed to U Fleku. It's the oldest brew pub in the world that's still open. It first opened it's doors in 1499, 7 years after Columbus discovered America. Their menu wasn't huge, but the food & beer were great and they really played up the ambiance. There was a guy with an accordion walking around singing, the staff was friendly, and it had an "old" feel to it. It's amazing to think that people have been coming to this place for over 500 years.
After we finished dinner we just walked around, stopping at various taverns along the way. The last stop of the night was this hole in the wall tavern where we ended up talking with a group of local Czech's who seemed to be about our age. It was a lot of fun...so far we've been able to do that at almost every major city we've been too. The locals are always curious to talk with Americans, and we love talking with them. Our tour guide had mentioned that the current Czech president is anti-EU, and wants the Czech Republic out, but she didn't go further into it. So we decided to ask our new Czech friends, and boy did we get an earful. Essentially their feeling is that on the outside, the EU promotes European Unity, as if they are all the same, but the reality is the German's look after German interests, French look after French Interests, and since countries like them have the most money, the most power, and thus the most clout, the Czech people feel like they are paying all this money to be part of the EU and aren't getting anything in return. Once the night was over we cabbed back to the hotel and went to bed.
The next day we headed home. First, though, we wanted to stop at a huge Asian Bazaar that was on the Czech side, near the German border. You can get all sorts of things for dirt cheap there. Shanna got a few things, as did Jenny & Chris, and after we were finally ready to head home.
It was a fun weekend. Prague is an amazing city, and one we'll have to visit again since there's no way you can explore everything in just 2 days. The people were nice (and all spoke English), the food was great, the beer was good, and the history of the city is an amazing one. If you've never visited Prague, you should definitely put it on your list.
To see our pictures from the trip, click here or any picture above.
On Friday I dropped the dogs off at a kennel, our friends met at our house, and we hit the road. The drive was supposed to take about 4 1/2 hours, but we stopped for lunch, gas, and we hit traffic when we got into Prague, so it ended up taking closer to 5 1/2 hours. Once we got to our hotel, we unpacked, got settled, and headed out to the beer festival.
We started off ordering their "sampler" that they called the Meter of Beer. As you can see from the picture above, it was a wooden tray a meter long with every type of beer they offered. It was definitely an eye opener for me...my experience with Czech beers have been limited to the handful they export, all of which have been Pilsner style beers. They had some really good ones in this sampler. And no, for those that are curious, I did NOT drink all of these myself, they were passed around. :) The fest was located in a tent right behind our hotel, so it was easy to get to, and back to our room after. They had good Czech food, live music, and we all had a good time.
The next morning we met in the lobby to wait for our tour guide. We had signed up for an all day tour that included walking around the city, lunch, & a boat tour on the river. The tour guide was great...she was born in Slovakia, but has been living in Prague for 3 years now. We started off in what's called the "lesser city". We walked all over Prague, seeing the castle, the "old town", the "new town", the Jewish Ghetto, and the St. Charles Bridge. The St. Charles Bridge, shown below, was built in 1357 after a flood damaged the previous bridge.
On the other side of the bridge we entered the Jewish Ghetto. It was a Saturday, and thus their Sabbath, so nothing was open, but we still got to see the sites. One place that stood out to me (due to it's age) was the oldest Synagogue still in use today. It's name translates to "The Old New Synagogue" and it was completed in 1270.
Some other notable things we saw was a bridge which had a bunch of locks attached to it. The story goes that it's good luck for a couple to attach a lock to the bridge, then toss the key into the stream underneath it. We saw a wall called "The Lennon Wall". After John Lennon was killed, people in Prague dedicated this wall to him, and would spray paint quotes from his songs, or Beatles songs, on it. At the time the city was under Communist control, and the words of "freedom" that the Beatles & Lennon sang about ran counter to their message, so every day they'd paint over the wall. By the next morning, though, people had spray painted it all over again. Now it's mostly just used for people to sign their names and spray paint things on it. In the city square that the tour ended in there was a huge Astronomical Clock. It showed when the days would be longer or shorter, the time, and much more, but unless you had a legend that explained what was what, you'd never figure it out. Every hour it would open doors above it and show rotating figures, then a guy at the top of the clock plays a trumpet. When you click on the link at the bottom, or any of the pictures in this post, you'll be taken to all the pictures, which includes a video of the clock at the hour mark. I'm sure most, if not all, of you know how the European police cars & ambulances sound like...it's not the same sound the ones in the US make. While we were in Prague, though, some Police cars flew by us and they made the same sound as the US ones! It immediately stood out...it's amazing how fast you get used to the European sirens, to the point where the US sirens sound different & unusual.
The boat tour was interesting, but the guy giving the tour was up front, and we were in the back. There was a family back there from Madrid, so they had a tour guide back there giving the guide in Spanish. After not having used Spanish since High School, I was surprised how much I remembered. While I didn't catch everything she said, I understood a lot more then I thought I would.
Once the tour was over, we were beat. We'd been walking all day so we decided to find a little cafe to sit and have some drinks at. Right next to the cafe was a huge chair...I thought I'd be able to sit in it and have my feet touch the ground, but this thing was just too big.
Everyone was pretty worn out that evening, so we spent 45 minutes in the Casino back at the hotel, then called it a night.
The next day some of our friends took off. They had only reserved Friday & Saturday night so they could get some things done at home. That meant it was Shanna, myself, and our two friends (who you might recognize from the Ulm & Eagle's Nest trip), Jenny & Chris. They are both our age, and moved here from Milwaukee, WI. Shanna & I have gotten to be really good friends with them over the past few months, and they've become our travel buddies. Sunday morning we took the metro down town and leisurely walked around. The day prior we'd been constantly on the move because we were on a tour, but now we could go back to the places we wanted to explore more and take our time. Mostly that meant checking out the shopping there. That evening we headed to U Fleku. It's the oldest brew pub in the world that's still open. It first opened it's doors in 1499, 7 years after Columbus discovered America. Their menu wasn't huge, but the food & beer were great and they really played up the ambiance. There was a guy with an accordion walking around singing, the staff was friendly, and it had an "old" feel to it. It's amazing to think that people have been coming to this place for over 500 years.
After we finished dinner we just walked around, stopping at various taverns along the way. The last stop of the night was this hole in the wall tavern where we ended up talking with a group of local Czech's who seemed to be about our age. It was a lot of fun...so far we've been able to do that at almost every major city we've been too. The locals are always curious to talk with Americans, and we love talking with them. Our tour guide had mentioned that the current Czech president is anti-EU, and wants the Czech Republic out, but she didn't go further into it. So we decided to ask our new Czech friends, and boy did we get an earful. Essentially their feeling is that on the outside, the EU promotes European Unity, as if they are all the same, but the reality is the German's look after German interests, French look after French Interests, and since countries like them have the most money, the most power, and thus the most clout, the Czech people feel like they are paying all this money to be part of the EU and aren't getting anything in return. Once the night was over we cabbed back to the hotel and went to bed.
The next day we headed home. First, though, we wanted to stop at a huge Asian Bazaar that was on the Czech side, near the German border. You can get all sorts of things for dirt cheap there. Shanna got a few things, as did Jenny & Chris, and after we were finally ready to head home.
It was a fun weekend. Prague is an amazing city, and one we'll have to visit again since there's no way you can explore everything in just 2 days. The people were nice (and all spoke English), the food was great, the beer was good, and the history of the city is an amazing one. If you've never visited Prague, you should definitely put it on your list.
To see our pictures from the trip, click here or any picture above.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Berchtesgaden & Koenigssee
Yesterday Shanna & I took a USO tour with some friends of ours to the town of Berchtesgaden, Hitler's Eagles Nest, and Koenigssee, a huge lake made by a glacier, which sits surrounded by mountains. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate...it was foggy, raining, and cold all day. We've decided that we're not going to book any more USO tours where the destination is even partly weather dependent. We could have driven ourselves and made it a day trip, and waited for a nice day. But it was a learning experience, and while the weather didn't cooperate, it WAS an interesting trip, and we enjoyed seeing it with the group of friends we've made here.
The tour bus left base at 0430, which means we had to get up EARLY...0300 to be exact. The drive, with the 30 minute break we took for breakfast, took about 4 1/2 hours. Most people slept along the way, so it wasn't that bad. When we got to Bertesgaden, we switched buses and got on a special bus designed for the steep 27 percent incline going up the mountain to the Eagle's Nest. Part of the experience is supposed to be the spectacular view, but with the massive amount of fog up there, you couldn't see more then 15 feet in front of you. It was interesting to hear the tour guide talking on the drive up, though. The workers who built the Eagle's Nest were from all over Europe, and were not forced labor. Italians were brought in for the marble work, for example. It took a total of 13 months to construct, and during that time the workers did not leave the mountain. Below is a picture I took on the patio outside...it will give you an idea of how foggy it was.
When we got back to the bottom we noticed on the entrance to the tunnel that the front doors (made from metal) had names & dates etched on it. The soldiers from the 101st Airborne that first got to Eagle's Nest in May of 1945 had left etchings of their names & dates and they are still there today. It was amazing to see, and I'm glad it was never removed.
We took the bus back to the base of the mountain, where we then were given a guided tour of the underground bunkers in the mountain. These were put in place to both act as an a shooting range for the SS, store documents, and the event of an emergency, be an escape route off the mountain. It was never finished entirely, but parts of it are stable enough to tour. Below is an etching in one of the bunkers left by French Soldiers that entered on May 5th, 1945.
After that we had time to tour the museum at the base of the mountain, then took our tour bus to Koenigssee. The fog on the mountains was actually pretty, but of course, a nice day would have been preferable.
There was a bunch of shops that led to the lake. I actually found a hat big enough to fit my head for my Oktoberfest outfit! I was excited about that. We found a tavern to eat dinner at, then took some pictures in front of the lake.
The tour bus left base at 0430, which means we had to get up EARLY...0300 to be exact. The drive, with the 30 minute break we took for breakfast, took about 4 1/2 hours. Most people slept along the way, so it wasn't that bad. When we got to Bertesgaden, we switched buses and got on a special bus designed for the steep 27 percent incline going up the mountain to the Eagle's Nest. Part of the experience is supposed to be the spectacular view, but with the massive amount of fog up there, you couldn't see more then 15 feet in front of you. It was interesting to hear the tour guide talking on the drive up, though. The workers who built the Eagle's Nest were from all over Europe, and were not forced labor. Italians were brought in for the marble work, for example. It took a total of 13 months to construct, and during that time the workers did not leave the mountain. Below is a picture I took on the patio outside...it will give you an idea of how foggy it was.
When we got to the top, we disembarked and walked down a long tunnel. At the end we got on an elevator made from polished brass on the inside. It took us up 124 Meters (406 Ft) to the top. The Eagle's Nest was used by the Americans from 1945 - 1952. When they turned it back over to Bavaria, it was schedule to be destroyed much like most things that belonged to or reminded people of Hitler. The Mayor of Bavaria stepped in and requested they not destroy this, and save it as a historical monument. It was allowed on the condition that it never be turned into a memorial to Hitler or a museum. In order to make that work, and still keep it open to the public, the dining parts were turned into a restaurant which still operates today. We walked through the restaurant area, and then to Eva Braun's tea room where the guide told us all about the Eagle's Nest. We were then allowed to walk around for an hour and eventually met down at the bus stop near the tunnel.
When we got back to the bottom we noticed on the entrance to the tunnel that the front doors (made from metal) had names & dates etched on it. The soldiers from the 101st Airborne that first got to Eagle's Nest in May of 1945 had left etchings of their names & dates and they are still there today. It was amazing to see, and I'm glad it was never removed.
We took the bus back to the base of the mountain, where we then were given a guided tour of the underground bunkers in the mountain. These were put in place to both act as an a shooting range for the SS, store documents, and the event of an emergency, be an escape route off the mountain. It was never finished entirely, but parts of it are stable enough to tour. Below is an etching in one of the bunkers left by French Soldiers that entered on May 5th, 1945.
After that we had time to tour the museum at the base of the mountain, then took our tour bus to Koenigssee. The fog on the mountains was actually pretty, but of course, a nice day would have been preferable.
There was a bunch of shops that led to the lake. I actually found a hat big enough to fit my head for my Oktoberfest outfit! I was excited about that. We found a tavern to eat dinner at, then took some pictures in front of the lake.
At 5:30 we all met back on the bus and left to head back home. It was a LONG day, but we all had a good time, and it was neat to once again see things I'd only read about previously in our history books.
Click here or any of the pictures above to view the photo album.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Shanna's Birthday Weekend
Shanna's birthday was this past Sunday, August 15th, but we made a weekend out of it. It started early Saturday when I signed us up for a USO trip to Evelin's Spa in Bingen-Büdesheim. The USO rep was driving, so we all met up on base at 8am. It was a small van with me, Shanna, and 6 other ladies. Needless to say I had my headphones ready, because it would have been a LOOONG 2 hour drive (each way) without them. Bingen-Büdesheim is a quaint little German town. There were multiple wineries, and you had to cross over a small brook to get to the town. When we walked into the Spa, the ladies who ran the place had coffee, tea, and water set out, as well as two pound cakes the owner's husband had made that were DELICIOUS. This was definitely a place geared toward the ladies...they had strict rules for guys who wanted to use their bathrooms:
After the small breakfast they let us know that they could only take 4 people at a time, so the first four went, and the rest of us waited. The Spa was attached to a small stain glass window shop, and the Spa owner had arranged for us to watch the guy who owns the shop make some of his stain glass figurines. It was actually pretty interesting watching him cut the glass, solder them together, and make things. After that Shanna & I walked around town. All over the place they had grape vines stretched around, going from building to building as shown below.
We stopped into a wine shop where the clerk spoke very little English. Between the little English she knew, and the bit of German we knew, we were able to buy a few bottles of wine. Eventually we made our way back to the Spa. It was lunch time now (which they provided) so we sat down to eat. The owner had walked over to the butcher across the street and purchased Salami, Ham, and cheese, and made us sandwiches. Since it was all fresh from the butcher, it was REALLY good. Then the spa treatment started. First it was a facial and foot rub, then it was a full body massage. It was VERY relaxing, but my only complaint was they used enough oil to lubricate a car, so when we were done, you could feel it all over your skin. The ladies seemed to like it, but Shanna & I weren't big fans of it. Other then that, though, it was great. As were were getting ready to leave, the owner came over & asked Shanna what her favorite color was. She told her, and the lady said they'd over heard us talking about how it was Shanna's birthday, so they gave her a free stained glass heart.
Once we got back to base, we drove to a Pizzaria I'd seen that looked good. I had to laugh at the inside of the place...it felt like 1985 all over again with the old fashioned cigarette machine and the Alf trashcan.
When we got home I gave Shanna her bday card. I had thought about getting the standard Hallmark card at the PX, but decided to go local. I walked down to the Rewe near our house and got her a card in German.
I didn't notice until after she opened the card that it said "Geburststagskind" instead of "Geburststag". That changes the meaning from "A cheers on your birthday" to "A cheers to the birthday child". In my defense, though, I've never seen a child's birthday card with Champagne flutes on them.
Sunday, her actual birthday, was a relaxing day. We purchased an NFL pass to watch all games live, and games that have already aired on demand, so we spent the day watching the football games that had aired the day & night before. We had dinner, then I took her & the dogs downtown to a surprise dessert place I'd found, the Cupcake Boutique, where we had cupcakes & milkshakes. It was pretty good! We walked around town for a bit, then headed home.
This is unrelated to Shanna's Birthday, but it doesn't warrant a separate post, so I'll add it here. Tuesday evening when Shanna got home from work we headed downtown to get our Oktoberfest outfits! They are pricey, but we'll be using them at least 3-4 times this year, and we'll use them for the next few years too, so it's worth it. Below is a picture of what we got:
When Shanna got home yesterday, I put everything on, grabbed a stein, and was ready for pictures! I didn't have enough beer in the house to fill a full stein, so I used apple juice for the picture. Come Oktoberfest, though, it'll be beer. :)
After the small breakfast they let us know that they could only take 4 people at a time, so the first four went, and the rest of us waited. The Spa was attached to a small stain glass window shop, and the Spa owner had arranged for us to watch the guy who owns the shop make some of his stain glass figurines. It was actually pretty interesting watching him cut the glass, solder them together, and make things. After that Shanna & I walked around town. All over the place they had grape vines stretched around, going from building to building as shown below.
We stopped into a wine shop where the clerk spoke very little English. Between the little English she knew, and the bit of German we knew, we were able to buy a few bottles of wine. Eventually we made our way back to the Spa. It was lunch time now (which they provided) so we sat down to eat. The owner had walked over to the butcher across the street and purchased Salami, Ham, and cheese, and made us sandwiches. Since it was all fresh from the butcher, it was REALLY good. Then the spa treatment started. First it was a facial and foot rub, then it was a full body massage. It was VERY relaxing, but my only complaint was they used enough oil to lubricate a car, so when we were done, you could feel it all over your skin. The ladies seemed to like it, but Shanna & I weren't big fans of it. Other then that, though, it was great. As were were getting ready to leave, the owner came over & asked Shanna what her favorite color was. She told her, and the lady said they'd over heard us talking about how it was Shanna's birthday, so they gave her a free stained glass heart.
Once we got back to base, we drove to a Pizzaria I'd seen that looked good. I had to laugh at the inside of the place...it felt like 1985 all over again with the old fashioned cigarette machine and the Alf trashcan.
When we got home I gave Shanna her bday card. I had thought about getting the standard Hallmark card at the PX, but decided to go local. I walked down to the Rewe near our house and got her a card in German.
I didn't notice until after she opened the card that it said "Geburststagskind" instead of "Geburststag". That changes the meaning from "A cheers on your birthday" to "A cheers to the birthday child". In my defense, though, I've never seen a child's birthday card with Champagne flutes on them.
Sunday, her actual birthday, was a relaxing day. We purchased an NFL pass to watch all games live, and games that have already aired on demand, so we spent the day watching the football games that had aired the day & night before. We had dinner, then I took her & the dogs downtown to a surprise dessert place I'd found, the Cupcake Boutique, where we had cupcakes & milkshakes. It was pretty good! We walked around town for a bit, then headed home.
This is unrelated to Shanna's Birthday, but it doesn't warrant a separate post, so I'll add it here. Tuesday evening when Shanna got home from work we headed downtown to get our Oktoberfest outfits! They are pricey, but we'll be using them at least 3-4 times this year, and we'll use them for the next few years too, so it's worth it. Below is a picture of what we got:
When Shanna got home yesterday, I put everything on, grabbed a stein, and was ready for pictures! I didn't have enough beer in the house to fill a full stein, so I used apple juice for the picture. Come Oktoberfest, though, it'll be beer. :)
Monday, August 9, 2010
Ulm
This past weekend Shanna & I did some traveling. Two friends of ours, Jenny & Chris, had invited us to go with them to explore a city nearby called Ulm. We met them at Patch Base, got some deli sandwiches from the Commissary, and hit the road. They have a Dodge Caliber, and one feature that I love is the glove box is air conditioned, so we could leave our drinks in there and they stayed cool. Before we got to Ulm we stopped in Giengen at the Steiff World Teddy Bear Museum (click the link to read more about it). Jenny wanted to get a souvenir for her niece whose birthday was coming up. We considered taking the tour, but decided 8 Euros to see a Teddy Bear museum wasn't worth it. We walked around the town for a bit, then headed out.
After we got back to the ground (which was MUCH faster then going to the top, I might add), we walked around the town for a bit. There wasn't too much to see, so we stopped at a local tavern and had a few drinks. After that we stopped at an Italian place that was right along a brook with a large turning water wheel.
The pizza was AMAZING there...if we're ever back in Ulm again we'll definitely be heading back there. After that we headed back home. It was a lot of fun, the church was neat, but mostly it was nice to spend the day with new friends.
Sunday was a relaxing day where we didn't do much, but one thing of note is we went to Stuttgart's Summer Fest. That's right, another fest. During the summer months they seem to have one fest or another every single weekend. There wasn't anything too special about this one, it was live music, food, and drinks, but it was nice to walk around with the dogs downtown. Normally we take the Ubahn, but it was a nice afternoon so we decided to walk there. We had dinner at a Spanish food tent that was set up...it was good. I had to laugh at how acclimated we've become to the price of beer here, though. The place we ate charged 3.30 Euros for a 12 oz beer and we both had the same thought...wow, that's expensive. We've really gotten used to the half liter (17oz) beers that usually cost between 1.50 to 2 Euros. Afterwards we walked back home, put on some TV, and called it a night. Below is a picture of Murphy sitting under the table while we ate. What you can't see is Milo is under me, sitting down, so people would walk by, see them, and get a big kick out of it. A few kids even came up to pet them.
One last thing before I post the link to the pictures. If you look at the picture of the church I posted above (the larger one on the website I'm going to link to below) you'll see the design at the very top. For perspective, I posted a shot that I took while looking straight up at the top of the church while I was on top...it shows you how high up we were off the ground.
Click here to see the pictures, or click any picture in the post above.
We had one thing we wanted to visit in Ulm...the massive church at the center of town. It's the tallest church in the world at 161.53 Meters (530 Feet). There are 768 steps that lead all the way to the very top. When you see the pictures we took you'll notice how they progressively appear higher & higher...that's because while it's 768 steps to the top, there are "breaks" at various points along the way so you can catch your breath and see the view. I'm definitely glad we did it, it was a neat experience. When we got to the last "break" before the very top you could see for miles & miles. At that point you were 143 Meters high (469ft). Here's where it got tricky. Up until that point there were two sets of spiraling stair cases, one that was for going up and one that was for going down. At this point there was only one spiraling staircase, so people were going up & coming down at the same time. It was narrow, so you had to turn sideways and slide by people. I was the only one who decided to go the last 20 meters up. I figured I'd come this far, I might as well go all the way. It took awhile to get up because at the top there was not a lot of room. You had to stand sideways, flush to the wall, to move. The pictures & the view made it worth it, though.
After we got back to the ground (which was MUCH faster then going to the top, I might add), we walked around the town for a bit. There wasn't too much to see, so we stopped at a local tavern and had a few drinks. After that we stopped at an Italian place that was right along a brook with a large turning water wheel.
The pizza was AMAZING there...if we're ever back in Ulm again we'll definitely be heading back there. After that we headed back home. It was a lot of fun, the church was neat, but mostly it was nice to spend the day with new friends.
Sunday was a relaxing day where we didn't do much, but one thing of note is we went to Stuttgart's Summer Fest. That's right, another fest. During the summer months they seem to have one fest or another every single weekend. There wasn't anything too special about this one, it was live music, food, and drinks, but it was nice to walk around with the dogs downtown. Normally we take the Ubahn, but it was a nice afternoon so we decided to walk there. We had dinner at a Spanish food tent that was set up...it was good. I had to laugh at how acclimated we've become to the price of beer here, though. The place we ate charged 3.30 Euros for a 12 oz beer and we both had the same thought...wow, that's expensive. We've really gotten used to the half liter (17oz) beers that usually cost between 1.50 to 2 Euros. Afterwards we walked back home, put on some TV, and called it a night. Below is a picture of Murphy sitting under the table while we ate. What you can't see is Milo is under me, sitting down, so people would walk by, see them, and get a big kick out of it. A few kids even came up to pet them.
One last thing before I post the link to the pictures. If you look at the picture of the church I posted above (the larger one on the website I'm going to link to below) you'll see the design at the very top. For perspective, I posted a shot that I took while looking straight up at the top of the church while I was on top...it shows you how high up we were off the ground.
Click here to see the pictures, or click any picture in the post above.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Update
It's been a bit since my last post because not a whole lot has been going on. I went with some friends the other day to the Mercedes Benz museum in Stuttgart. I was really impressed with it. The Porsche museum was neat, but the Mercedes museum was massive. I really liked the way it was laid out. When you start the tour you take an elevator all the way to the top, then start to walk down. As you enter each level of the museum the audio guide would automatically tell you a synopsis of the cars in the section, then you could push the guide button in front of any specific exhibit to get info about it. Each level was considered an "era". As you walked down between eras there were pictures and captions telling you about what was going on in the world at that particular time so you had perspective of what was happening while the cars you were about to see were on the road.
One thing that really impressed me was there open discussion of WWI and WWII in the 1914-1945 era level. The Porsche and BMW museum completely skipped over 1914-1918 and 1933-1945, but not Mercedes. They openly discussed it and even went so far as to talk about the forced laborers who made up over %50 of the German workforce from 1939-1945. They had a book with a list of names of all the forced laborers they used during the war, as well as a statement about how they apologized and made reparations to them after the war.
Aside from that, Shanna and I have been taking German language classes two nights a week for the past few weeks. We both really like our teacher...she's funny, nice, and most important, patient. An interesting note I learned last night is she is also the only female firefighter in the town she lives in. I'm definitely looking forward to the day I don't have to ask the locals if they speak English. I've improved 100 fold since we got here, but still have a ways to go.
Today we spent the day cleaning the house and getting ready for a friend to come visit this weekend. She lives up in Heidelberg, but this is the first weekend our schedules have lined up. We're both looking forward to seeing her again.
Not too much else to report. Deutsch Telekom is coming out tomorrow, so fingers are crossed that after 2 1/2 months of living in the house we'll FINALLY have home phone and Internet.
That's all for now...hope everyone is doing well back home. We miss you all.
Finally, I'll leave you with a picture I just took on our back deck of the sunset over Stuttgart.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone 4
One thing that really impressed me was there open discussion of WWI and WWII in the 1914-1945 era level. The Porsche and BMW museum completely skipped over 1914-1918 and 1933-1945, but not Mercedes. They openly discussed it and even went so far as to talk about the forced laborers who made up over %50 of the German workforce from 1939-1945. They had a book with a list of names of all the forced laborers they used during the war, as well as a statement about how they apologized and made reparations to them after the war.
Aside from that, Shanna and I have been taking German language classes two nights a week for the past few weeks. We both really like our teacher...she's funny, nice, and most important, patient. An interesting note I learned last night is she is also the only female firefighter in the town she lives in. I'm definitely looking forward to the day I don't have to ask the locals if they speak English. I've improved 100 fold since we got here, but still have a ways to go.
Today we spent the day cleaning the house and getting ready for a friend to come visit this weekend. She lives up in Heidelberg, but this is the first weekend our schedules have lined up. We're both looking forward to seeing her again.
Not too much else to report. Deutsch Telekom is coming out tomorrow, so fingers are crossed that after 2 1/2 months of living in the house we'll FINALLY have home phone and Internet.
That's all for now...hope everyone is doing well back home. We miss you all.
Finally, I'll leave you with a picture I just took on our back deck of the sunset over Stuttgart.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone 4
Location:Mühlrain, Stuttgart, Germany
Monday, July 26, 2010
Shanna's First Blog Update
So, I spent ALL weekend unpacking and decorating the house. I also managed to find the dogs actually using their beds. Most of the time, they commandeer mine!
Here's some pictures of one room at at time.
Here's some pictures of one room at at time.
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