Christmas Market

I know this post is a little late in coming, but I figured better late than never. The weekend before Christmas (which somehow seems sooo long ago already) we went to a Christmas market in Rudesheim. Germany and most of Europe is known for their Christmas markets, but this was a really fun one. We met up with some friends of ours and we braved the cold (seriously Mother Nature, quit making it so darn cold without the white stuff to make it worthwhile!).

To get there, we had to take a ferry across the river (the Rhein I believe). If that had been all that we did the entire day the boys would still have been thrilled. You would have thought the ten minute ferry ride was the BEST. THING. EVAR! Okay, so I was a little excited about it too.

The city didn't disappoint us either. I suspect that at any time of the year the city's wonderful to behold but it was even neater with the entire center being closed to traffic and filled with fragrant and colorful market stalls.

We managed to eat our weight I think that day. We had french fries, hot dogs (wursts), hot cocoa, kartoffeln soup (potato soup) in a bread bowl, and chocolate covered strawberries on a stick. And that's only what I remember. There may have been more, but I won't admit to it now.

Honestly it's days like these that make me absolutely fall in love with Europe all over again, even if sometimes I'm homesick and lonely. There's nothing like this back in the States.

Weekend Wanderings - Town Fair

This past weekend our little city had a Christmas market. I love European Christmas markets and since this one was within walking distance, we of course had to go. This year it was about a third the size of the one last year so I'm not sure what was going on, but we still had lots of fun.

This is the far end of the fair, as you're walking along the main road.



The town square with its Christmas tree

A typical booth. There were several food vendors, along with clothing and home decor booths but the selection was much more slim compared to last year unfortunately. I also just randomly snapped photos because I felt like a creeper taking photos of people's merchandise.

A small four man band played holiday classics. They also played some oompah type music that Germany and Bavaria are famous for. No, I'm not sure it's called oompah music, but that's what I'm going with since that's what it sounds like they were playing.

Drake's favorite part of any fair: the rides!

He even got to go twice, this time Link's in the back of the fire engine, crying. He was tired, poor little fella. The weird part about this fire truck is that it's supposedly American (see the words in English) and also the Texas license plate?

Certainly doesn't look like a Texas license plate to me, but you have to give it to the Germans; atleast they tried to make it look Texan with the cowboy.

Yummy and adorable Santa Claus gingerbread cookies.

We also tried to get a decent photo of the family in front of a Christmas tree in the town hall. Unfortunately this is the best that we came up with.  Yeah, it was that bad. One tired toddler, two balloons that kept getting in the way, and a headstrong preschooler does not make a great photo opportunity. And I'm also wearing my son's hat rather than carrying it along since he decided not to wear it. Oh well. Atleast we had a great time, even if we don't have photos of us enjoying it together. Hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

Weekend Travels - Rothenburg ob der Tauber

This past weekend we travelled to Rothenburg ob der Tauber for their Imperial City Festival. They had concerts, re-enactors, medieval camps and shopping. Some of my favorite things! The city itself was worth the two hour plus drive just for the architecture. It's one of the best preserved Medieval cities in Europe. It's absolutely gorgeous. The main part of the city is surrounded by a city wall which is free (I hope) to roam about on top. Drake and I climbed it to see the view while James and Link stayed below.

We had a great weekend! Hope you enjoy your Labor Day weekend as well.

Top Ten Tuesday - Germany Edition

In the spirit of Amanda over at ohamanda.com, I'm doing a Top Ten Tuesday list today. So without further ado, here it is:

TOP TEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT GERMANY
subscript: things I wish the states would catch onto!

1. Stoplights that go from red, to red with yellow, to green. I know it's silly, but having that extra step of the yellow flashing on means more drivers are prepared for the green light. Or maybe it's just because I like to leave the line as soon as the light flashes green (and I know there aren't any other cars trying to make it through the light, of course). I think it's the inner racecar driver in me.

(I know this isn't a photo of a stoplight, but I apparently don't have one...don't ask me why I have a photo of a random sign either)
2. The good samaritan law. It's a law over here that if you see a car accident, you're required, by law, to stop and lend aid. While I think that people should stop of their own accord and not be coerced by the law, I know way too many people that think, "well, atleast it wasn't me," and drive on by.

I'm not even gonna try to post a photo for this one...

3. Recycling...everything. I love that we have mandatory recycling. It's not much effort at all on my part, but I always feel better knowing that the trash that we generate is getting a second life, and the earth is getting a reprieve.

4. The Autobahn! I love the autobahn. I know most people think of it as a race track of sorts, without any speed limits, but in fact there are speed limits and restrictions in a lot of areas.

5. The flowers. In my tiny city that I live in, there's atleast 10 florists (or blumen, if you will). That's not counting all the nurseries, or the places that sell fresh cut flowers (like all the grocery stores and gas stations). Every time I'm out, I see people walking with fresh cut flower arrangements. I always imagine they're taking them home to their significant others, and my heart warms. I know that's sappy, but I can deal with that. I think every woman (or man) should get flowers on a regular basis.

6. The architecture. Germany, and Europe in general, is amazingly rich in architecture. I'm not even talking about the castles (yeah, they're pretty awesome), but just the everyday architecture. You don't see cheap, flimsy vinyl siding over here. You'd be hard pressed to find sheet asphalt shingles too (which are also cheap and require loads of maintenance). Most houses are very sturdy, made of solid materials, and beautiful as a result. Quality building materials can make a ton of difference (no pun intended), but the houses themselves are great. Each house is different from its neighbor. You don't see cookie cutter houses like you do back in the states. I love it!

7. The culture. The culture over here is amazing. From what I've observed about the Germans (and this is strictly my own observations) is that they are hard-working, efficient, polite, and sincere. If there's so much as a scrap of paper out in the sidewalk's gutter, guaranteed it won't be there tomorrow. Some hard working Germany will be out there with his broom, shovel, and wheelbarrow to clean up the mess. The Germans also have a wonderful tradition of taking family walks (volksmarching) on Sundays. It doesn't have to be a walk, or even a Sunday, but the Germans are always outside, getting some fresh air and exercise. If there's one habit we take when we leave this country, I hope this one is it (well, it and the recycling).

(I know this isn't a photo of the culture, but it's a beautiful little street corner here)
8. The travel opportunies. We're sooo close to everything. There's a castle in our little town that overlooks the city. An hour away (by car) is Germany's oldest city, founded by the ancient Romans. Four hours away (again, by car) is Paris. The French border is only an hour away. It's so easy to get out and see things that I've only ever dreamt of. I'm a very lucky girl indeed.

9. The cheeses! I'm a cheese connoisseur and a bit of a cheese snob, if I'm being honest here. I guess since I'm in Germany I should be bragging about all the beers and bratwurst (yeah, they have them...they're great), but I'm more of a cheese and wine type of girl. And the cheeses here are so varied and so inexpensive. There's even a store nearby that has a "cheese bar" that showcases over 700 different kinds of cheese. I didn't even know there were that many...

10. The weather. We have such mild winters and summers. It doesn't get scorching hot like the Midwest that I hail from, nor do the summers get so freezing cold. Sure, they're cold, but atleast we have snow to show for it. I hate the cold without snow! I figure if I'm going to be freezing, I might as well enjoy the beauty of it.

Bad Neighbors

I woke up this morning to an email from my landlord's representative. Seeing her emails always make me nervous. There's a million rules, laws and customs in Germany and we try to stay abreast of them and not be ignorant Americans living in another country but sometimes we fall short. Today was no different.

Germany has very strict and mandatory rules about garbage. Almost everything can be recycled or composted. I LOVE this rule. I think it's great. I embrace it willingly. The problem comes in when I have too much restmüll, or residual waste. Residual waste is what's left over once you separate out the compostable items, as well as the recyclables. It happens alot since diapers fall into this category and I used to have two boys in them. Thankfully, I'm down to one boy in diapers, but that still produces a lot of waste. Consequently, our garbage can at the curb is always too full.

We thought we solved this problem by throwing our extra bag (it's about one bag per week) into a neighbor's bin. There's just two of them and their bin is never full. We only put the bag in at the end of the week, on the day that trash is scheduled to be picked up. We didn't think we were imposing since it was space that they themselves weren't using, and it's not like our bags were ripped or leaking. We were wrong.

Apparently our neighbors resent our intrusion into their trash bin. I didn't realize it was such a big deal until we got an email from our landlady about certain complaints. It didn't cost them extra, it didn't leak into their bins and create a mess, and it didn't infringe on their rights. But apparently it's a big deal. Big enough to complain to the landlady behind our backs, rather than just asking us not to do it. I understand (sort of) that they don't want someone else's trash in their bins; that's fine. We should have asked them first if they minded. We won't do it again.

But is it really that big of a deal? Am I missing something here? I'm actually pretty upset about this. We've been doing it for awhile, and they just now mentioned something. Have they been sitting in their house (we live in a small complex of five townhomes) quietly begrudging us our trash? We had no idea. I feel like such a bad neighbor. Maybe the reason they don't come over and visit is because of it. I wish I had known sooner. I honestly didn't know that this sort of thing would upset anyone. I'm already lonely over here in Germany since I don't know anyone and this just makes it worse. Someone I don't even really know (but should) apparently really dislikes me. I'm too shy to just go to their door and ring the bell and chitchat. Maybe I should have. So my question is: do you think what we did was so bad? Should I apologize? Maybe write them an "I'm sorry" letter?