Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot January 3, 2012

Dinkelsbühl, Germany

Happy 2012!

Well, the Mr. and I had a very nice Christmas, and a lovely, quiet New Year’s Eve, too (except for an incident involving a Jelly Belly and a crown, but we’ll get to that later).

For Christmas, we travelled to a little town outside of Stuttgart where the Mr.’s sister and her husband run a hotel. They’ve done quite a bit of renovating since they took over, and it’s absolutely lovely. We were there for Christmas Eve (it’s the big event in Germany when the children go upstairs while the candles on the tree are lit, and the gifts are put underneath because Nikolaus has visited!) and left late on Christmas Day. I think Christmas Day might be the emptiest day on the autobahn here in Germany as it was practically deserted except for the occasional car. Now that’s my kind of driving! I was planning to share a few of the photos I took of the family gathering, but like a nincompoop I managed to delete all of my photos before they were actually saved. I partially blame Picasa, however, as it didn’t warn me! Since I have a terrible memory and need photos to help me remember my life, this will probably go down as the Christmas that never happened (at least in my head). Still, we had a great time and on Christmas Day we did a really nice walk around the village where we discovered an open-air used bookstore that operates on an honor system. They even had an English book section, which made me squeal with glee. I found a book of essays by my favorite writer, Barbara Kingsolver, that I had somehow neglected to ever purchase and read, and a couple of fiction novels. All the paperbacks I saw were 2 Euros or less.

Check out the mini version of the house on the front. Freakin' adorable!

While my photos from the Christmas gathering are gone into cyberspace, thankfully, I did manage to take and successfully upload other photos I’ve taken in the past few weeks. The Mr. and I took two little day trips, one before Christmas and the other a few days ago. The first village we visited is called Dinkelsbühl.

Dinkelsbühl is near to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, one of the main stops on any tour across Southern Germany. While Rothenburg is lovely and very impressive with a medieval wall still standing and surrounding the city parameters, it is horribly touristy and filled with busloads of tourists at almost any time of year. Dinkelsbühl, as we discovered, is also very beautiful, historic and interesting but is largely passed over by tourists, most likely due to its close proximity to Rothenburg. That suits us fine. We visited the Christmas market there, and while it was crowded, we didn’t feel it was too packed to enjoy ourselves. The real attraction for us was the town itself.

Dinkelsbühl town center

The Mr. and I were both very impressed. Historic timbered houses and winding cobble roads snaking alongside the old city wall make for a very lovely little town with a lot of character. Just wandering around on the outskirts of the center of town is a treat with each little street offering up “oohs” and “aahs,” but the center of town doesn’t  disappoint in any way, either. The Mr. was as thoroughly impressed as I was, and I have a feeling it’s a town we’ll visit again. After enjoying a glühwein in the warmth of a restaurant, the Mr. and I went outside to discover snowflakes falling everywhere. It was the first (and to date) the only snow we’ve seen so far this winter, and it was really magical.

A historic section of the fortress where we had lunch in Königsberg

The other village we visited isn’t as well-known as Dinkelsbühl, or quite as impressive, but for a tiny little village out in the countryside we also found it really interesting. Thirteenth century Königsberg  definitely has its fair share of historic timber houses and buildings that makes it an interesting place to wander around. We started off by having lunch in a fortress up on a hill overlooking the town. The Schloßberggaststätte offered up a very tasty lunch and nice views of Königsberg below.

The Mr. and I then drove down to the village and had a wander around for about an hour. It was quiet and there were only a few people about, and I snapped lots of photos. It was closed after Christmas until March, but we discovered they have a sort of “craftmall” in the village: workshops connected in one long building where one can buy all different types of handmade wares. I’d love to come back at some point and check that out.

What always amazes me about the buildings in these historic little villages in Germany is the attention to detail on each one. I guess it makes sense. If a building was originally constructed in the 15th century, that gives a person plenty of time to make it nice, so to speak. Still, it’s often the smaller details of a really interesting door or a carving on the side that makes the building so interesting. I think it’s something that many Europeans don’t appreciate when they’ve grown up with it their entire life, but as an American from pretty much anywhere except the east coast, you’re mostly used to buildings that were built in the last fifty years or so and were built for function, not form.

Where the village clockmaker lived in Königsberg

The days following Christmas and leading up to New Year’s Eve were fairly quiet ones for us. We decided to stay at home on NYE and try to comfort poor Mia who is not a fan of fireworks. She did really well when random ones started going off in the distance from about 6pm on, but at the stroke of midnight she was inconsolable as she scuttled from room to room looking for somewhere “safe.” Sadly (for pets, anyway), there is nowhere safe at the stroke of midnight if you live in any town in Germany as everybody and their neighbor have purchased a big package of fireworks, and they’re setting them off, by golly! We had rockets launching right outside our house which was pretty impressive, but made quite a racket. The smoke in the streets was chokingly thick. Still, it’s good fun seeing the streets lit up with sparklers, fountains and rockets and the Germans seem pretty good about keeping to the designated time for setting them off; the city was quiet by 1 am.

My big excitement on NYE involved one package of Jelly Belly jellybeans, and a dental crown. The first time a Jelly Belly popped off my crown, I thought it had been bad luck. That was several years ago, but I don’t buy jellybeans very often. Well, it happened again, so as much I love them I think I know what my new year’s resolution has to be.

Next week I’ll be flying to the US to visit family and friends. I’m thankful I’m going to get to start the new year spending time with loved ones during what is usually a somewhat dreary and depressing month for me. My new year’s wish (we get one of those, right? I mean, if we’re making resolutions to improve ourselves in some way it seems only fair to get a wish!) is for mild weather next week so my flights don’t get snowed in anywhere. That would be nice

This house was built the year after Columbus sailed. They didn't even know the new world had been discovered.

Christmas, Christmas Time is Near December 12, 2011

Advent brunch

Hard to believe we’re nearly halfway through December, and Christmas Day is only 13 days away – eek! The “eek” is no way a comment about my enthusiasm for the holiday as I love Christmas and have been driving the Mr. batty with my (limited) Christmas CD collection that I pretty much play non-stop for the entire month of December. No, instead it’s more a comment on the state of my Christmas shopping, or lack thereof. Yup, I don’t have ANY Christmas gifts purchased yet, people. The good news is that I don’t have to have everything purchased by Christmas Day as I’m actually heading back to the states in January to celebrate a late Christmas, but the bad news is that I have no clue what to buy the eight people I do need to have something for by the 24th. (Those kooky Germans celebrate on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day, making hurried and frantic Christmas Eve shopping impossible.) So that means I actually only have 12 shopping days left – double eek! And actually, when you subtract the day I have my final language test and Sundays, there are even fewer shopping days – EEEEEK!

Still, despite the stress, I do love Christmas and we’ve been enjoying the season so far. It kicked off with the Mr.’s family’s annual Advent brunch, and was then followed the next weekend by a lovely visit of some friends from Scotland. We took them to the Würzburg Weinachtsmarkt, and also checked out one of our favorite cities in the area, Bamberg, as they had never been before. Unfortunately, the month-long dryspell we had had with no rain decided to end that weekend and it rained pretty much the entire time, but we didn’t let it dampen our Christmas spirits. We stuffed ourselves full of mulled wine, roasted almonds and sausages.

Advent is observed here in Germany with many families setting up an Adventskranz, or wreath, with one candle to be lit on each of the four Sundays before Christmas. We haven’t bought an Advent wreath this year, but we did decide to do an Advent calendar. This tradition is observed more often in the UK and the US as I have seen these calendars for sale before in those countries, but not on the scale and in the varieties that the Germans market them. Apart from the normal chocolate ones, you can also buy Advent calendars with other goodies inside, like tea, for example. I’m guessing pretty much every German family has an Advent calendar of some sort.  While the Advent season officially begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas,  Advent calendars start on the 1st of December. They come in pretty much two forms: paper, disposable ones that you buy new every year, and permanent ones that go up year after year and you just need to buy the chocolate or other treats to fill inside. This year I decided to buy a permanent advent calendar that we can put up every year and fill with chocolates. I bought all the bits and bobs to fit inside each mitten, and I was really pleased with how it turned out.

On Saturday, the Mr. and I bought a Christmas tree. You may recall the debacle of last year’s tree, so I was hesitant as to what our plan would be for this year. The Mr. said he was prepared to haul it all the way from that same faraway location as last year, as long as I would help. The weather has been considerably milder this year vs. last (so no snow and ice to contend with), but it still is a long way to carry a big, heavy, cumbersome tree. My response to his suggestion was, “meh,” so I had sort of resigned myself to the idea that we would buy a fake tree online when we discovered the new wonderful, glorious, supermarket of Milano and mac-n-cheese fame  is also selling Christmas trees – hurray! I still made the Mr. carry it all the way home (it had ouchy needles, and yes, I am a wuss if that hasn’t become apparent yet) but he made it and we spent Saturday evening stringing the lights and decorating. We only had $20 cash on us and he couldn’t have managed anything huge anyway, so it’s a little dumpy and short but it’s cute. Still, given the painful needles, the hassle of transporting it home, the mess of needles falling off, the need to re-top it with water constantly,  and the general lack of evergreen smell, I think I might just order a fake one next year and be done with it. That sounds a little bah-humbugish, I guess, but after having real trees for a while you start to see the advantages of something easy and fake. Guess that’s the American in me

On Sunday, the Mr. and I decided to check out a Christmas market in a town about a 20-minute bus ride away from Würzburg. We didn’t really know what to expect, and we figured it would be just another small Christmas market as you find in cities and villages all over Germany at this time of year. We like the town, however, and thought it might be nice to visit again anyway. Well, as we started to drive into the town’s boundaries and we saw cars, cars, cars everywhere. Turns out this sleepy little wine village actually puts together one heck of a Christmas market! What we really enjoyed about this market was that many of the “stalls” were actually set up inside the old buildings of the medieval village, which obviously added a great deal of atmosphere to the market. Also, most of the vendors were offering handmade crafts and wares, so it’s a far less commercial Christmas market than most and the atmosphere of the town makes it all the more special. It was so easy to take the bus there and back that I hope we’ll maybe get to go one more time before Christmas.

Reaching into Santa's bag

Inside one of the market stalls

Ask and Ye Shall Receive December 12, 2011

It’s happened, folks….it’s finally happened! Let us all bow our heads and give thanks for:

Manna from heaven

AMEN!

You may recall that back in June I discovered another grocery store near to where we live that is not only frickin’ big, but also offers speciality food items from around the world. They have an American food section that pretty much made me squeal with glee and includes such fare as marshmallow creme, popcorn, barbeque sauce, mac-n-cheese, pop tarts (which I am always tempted to buy, but they’re €4.99 a box, or $6.76 – ouch!), and Pepperidge Farm Chunk cookies. If you read the last line of the entry I wrote (see the link above), you may note that I was longing in particular for two additions to the wares for sale.

Well, maybe the big whigs at the grocery chain read my blog, or maybe the Big Guy upstairs is looking out for me. We’ll probably never know. At any rate, I’m sending out a big THANK YOU to the universe.

Now, if someone can just get to work on the Cheetos….

Giving Thanks November 24, 2011

As great as it is to live abroad, one of the major downsides is being away from family and friends during the holidays. What’s particularly difficult is when the holiday isn’t even celebrated in the country you’re living in.

Thanksgiving is the holiday that I probably miss the most since I’ve been living abroad.  I’ve been lucky enough to have been home a handful of times for Christmas since 2004, but making it back for Thanksgiving has always been more of a challenge in terms of timing. When I was a student in the UK, there was no Thanksgiving break (and I probably couldn’t have afforded a flight back for such a short trip anyway), and then once I started to work in the education sector, the majority of my vacation time needed to be taken in the summer.  So I think, if I’m remembering correctly, I’ve made it back for a total of one Thanksgiving in eight years.  Sad, huh?  In the beginning it didn’t bother me so much, but I’ve come to really appreciate (and miss) this holiday that is uniquely north american.

Still, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks, even if that means not getting to enjoy pumpkin pie while you’re doing it! As hard as it sometimes was and sometimes still is, I’m thankful to have had the opportunities I’ve had to live and study abroad and experience different cultures. I’m thankful I have the opportunity (as much as I complain about it) to learn another language now. I’m thankful the Mr. has the good, permanent job that brought us here. I’m thankful we have his family here and we’re looking forward to celebrating Advent with them this weekend, and later Christmas. I’m thankful I’m going to get to fly back to see my family in January for a “late” Christmas. I’m thankful for all the new friends I’m making, and for the old ones that make it feel like no time has passed since we last saw each other. And I’m thankful for our little furry Mia, who had a tooth pulled yesterday morning and seems to be doing just fine.

I am so thankful for so much, that I really don’t even know where to begin or where to end this list. I don’t know what I did in my previous life to deserve such a great husband, family, friends, health and privilege, but I deeply appreciate all that I have.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Black Friday backlash: Early openings a mixed blessing – Nov. 15, 2011 November 20, 2011

Black Friday backlash: Early openings a mixed blessing – Nov. 15, 2011.

Now I’m a gal who likes to shop, but when I read the above article a couple of days ago, I have to say it made me a little concerned. Yes, I understand businesses want to make money, and I suppose one could argue that the employees who work on a holiday earn higher wages (which during these hard times they perhaps need)…still, one has to wonder: if these shops didn’t open at 11pm on Thursday, would they really make less money in the long run over the holiday season? Will the people who go shopping at 11pm on Thanksgiving simply not go shopping at all if the stores don’t open then? It might be that the shops do come out slightly ahead with this early Black Friday strategy, but my guess is that the same people who get up at 4am on Black Friday to wait in line are the same ones who will go at 11pm on Thanksgiving Day. And now that the store is opening at that time, they’ll have no choice but to go on Thanksgiving Day if they want to catch the best deals. I understand people want to save money and get good deals, but I have to wonder, what are we as a country really paying for all this cheap stuff when one considers the ramifications of what this means not only for the Thanksgiving holiday, but possibly other American holidays, too?

The lack of vacation time for workers in the US and the fact that there are only a  handful of days (at best) left in the year when  almost all shops are closed for public holidays means Americans are already dreadfully lagging behind their European counterparts in terms of quality relaxation time with their families. After having lived and worked in the UK for a number of years, I came to really appreciate what it means to have actual vacation time. My British colleagues where shocked and appalled when I told them that I had to work an entire year before I earned any real vacation time, and that allotment was pretty measly once I did receive it (and that that was 100% normal). And now, living in (at least this part of) Germany, every shop is closed every Sunday, every week. In case you didn’t catch that, EVERY SUNDAY, EVERY WEEK.  While I find it a little extreme to have ALL the shops closed for an entire day every week (no less the weekend, when one might actually have the time and energy to get some shopping down!), I do appreciate that it guarantees at least one day out of the week when most families can spend time together. Yes, doctors and nurses and firemen (and servers and cooks, too, as restaurants and cafes are open) still have to work, but most families have a day together without working or running errands.  And I also appreciate that the major holidays in Germany are taken pretty seriously, too…I don’t think there’s any chance stores here are going to open at 11pm on Christmas Day just so shoppers can get started early on the after-Christmas sales!

So I just have to wonder…are we Americans digging our own “holiday/vacation” grave by allowing shops to open on Thanksgiving Day? Are we making an already bad situation worse by eroding yet another holiday (that I always thought was supposed to be a day about family and rest and being thankful for what you already have) into just another day to spend money? I fear once the floodgates are open, it won’t be long before the next American holiday is under attack and open for business as usual.

What do you think? Would you ever or will you go shopping on Thanksgiving Day? Does it concern you that shops are starting to open on a public holiday?

Deutsch, Deutsch, Deutsch November 17, 2011

So I’ve been meaning to get on here more often now that I’m back in Germany and write a bit more. Sheesh, where does the time go? Oh, yeah..to learning German. That does take up quite a bit of time, and definitely a lot of energy, too. The finish line is in sight, however: I have a test for my language school next week (that I’m not feeling terribly optimistic I will pass as I’ve heard it’s pretty difficult), then we have a short course on German politics, customs, etc. followed by a test on that subject matter, and finally the big test for the government in the middle of December (that if I pass successfully, we’ll get half of the money back that we’ve spent on the class). Then my integration course is officially finished, and unless I want to learn further, that’s it for German. The good news is that the test that is really important for me  – the one for the government – isn’t very difficult. We’ve taken two practice versions of it, and I found them both fairly easy. It’s most heavily weighted on speaking. I don’t speak perfect German by any stretch of the imagination, but they care more about that you are communicating and getting your ideas across, even if you make lots of grammatical mistakes and don’t speak perfect German. So I think I’ll be okay as I can hold a basic (albeit imperfect) conversation over simple subjects.

I’m not sure whether I want to continue learning German in the near future or not. I definitely wouldn’t go back to learning further until February at the earliest because I’m most likely flying back to the US in January to celebrate a “late” Christmas with family there. Then we will probably have quite a bit going on this spring with me needing to study for my German driver’s license, the Mr. taking his spring vacation…so I don’t know. At the moment, my feeling is that I really need to speak better German before I should learn more grammatically. That might sound sort of backwards, but the problem is that the grammar we’re learning is so complicated that I feel like I could grapple with it better and take in more if I could actually understand more and speak more fluently. The class I’ve joined for this last section of my course is really interesting as it has quite a few people who can already speak quite well and understand pretty much everything said to them (for various reasons, such as having a German mother or having already lived in Germany for TEN years…no joke, we share the same class!), whereas I have to struggle more to understand what my teachers are saying to me, whether it’s explaining the grammar or telling a funny story. I especially struggle with one particular teacher, and understand perhaps 50-60 percent at best what he’s saying to us for four hours a day. They don’t have this problem, and I feel like that gives them a real advantage at being able to take in and quickly utilize the new grammar that’s being taught (also because they no doubt have a better “ear” for it, so to speak).  So we’ll see. Never say never, as I think learning German at a higher level could definitely be a good idea at some point, but I’m just not sure I’m ready for that yet. Plus I’m pretty burnt out. I had hoped that when I came back from my two-month break I’d be ready to study for two or three hours every night as my language school recommends, but nope…when I get home, I’m tired and I want to do other stuff, not learn German. After having already learned it for four hours, my brain just wants to relax and do something else. I do my homework and that’s it.

On the other hand, I know it’s probably best in theory to just plow through to whatever level it is you’re hoping to accomplish, and long breaks are not your friend. I don’t feel like I need a “high” level of German at the moment in my daily life here, but I know my needs may change at some point, for example if I begin to look for a job or want to study something at the university. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Back in the Saddle October 31, 2011

Wuerzburg in Autumn

Hurray, I did it! I managed to sneak a post into October before the month is over. (I’m sorry September…I really am.) I sort of feel like I’m cheating, writing this right now, as I’m technically home sick and not in my language class where I am supposed to be. You see, I got up this morning feeling not so great with a stomach ache, got ready, ate some breakfast, continued to feel not so great but was determined to go to class. I walked up to the bus stop (feeling not so great), waited for the bus (still feeling not so great), got on and decided when we got into town that it was silly for me to go to class when I felt so poorly and it wouldn’t be the end of the world for me to miss. So I just stayed on the bus and went back home again. The funny thing is that within an hour or so, I actually started to feel pretty good and normal again. And to make matters worse, we don’t even have class tomorrow as it is a holiday. What holiday, you ask? Why, All Saints Day, of course! (I love it. The Germans aren’t even really into Halloween like the Americans are, but we still get a day off. And check this out: We live in the German state abbreviated “BY,” and apparently we get the most public holidays of anyone – sweet!) Anyway, I blame my stomach ache on the bad dream I had about zombies last night that must have caused  some serious indigestion. (And I blame you, NPR, for causing me to have that dream to begin with after I read this article!) Anyway, at least I’m getting to write an October entry.  Maybe I should make it a spoooooky entry? Eh, maybe not. The zombie nightmare was enough spookiness for me in one day.

The beauty of the vineyards

Instead, I think I’ll share with you some photos and a little information about a walk we did here in Wuerzburg last Saturday through the vineyards to Randesacker. I was a little surprised to find it already so cold when I arrived back in Germany last week, as Indiana was enjoying a lovely Indian summer when I left. Still, the chill snap in the air and bit of hazy fog makes for some lovely autumn photos.

The walk began the way we usually do it, which is to start off in the vineyards near Wuerzburg University’s campus, and then make our way down into the neighboring town of Randesacker. The two weekends he was here on his own, the Mr. did 18-mile hikes on each of the Saturdays going in a similar direction to how we walked, but he then continued on to a further-away neighboring town before making his way back on foot. I’m not sure I can manage 18 miles going up and down hills in one day, so we only did a slightly longer version of the walk we usually do, which meant that instead of walking down the hill into Randesacker and then making our way back home along the Main River, we instead walked down into the village and then back up again on the other side of the valley into a natural preserve area, and then back into more vineyards. We went back down the hill from there into Randesacker, and then took a bus home.

Plucked fresh off the vine

One of the things I love most about doing this walk is that from early spring all the way until late autumn, you can forage fruit from all of the old orchard trees. We plucked a couple of apples fresh off a tree and enjoyed them as part of our lunch, and also pinched a few grapes from the vines (though we tried not to be too greedy…we know those, of course, actually are owned by someone and harvested!)

We stopped at the church just above Randesacker that you come to before walking down into town and had a bite to eat for lunch. It was a great place to enjoy the view.

Walking up to the church

This walk to Randesacker has become one of our favorites as it’s always beautiful, no matter what season, and it’s never too crowded.  Next to the church is where the huge, old mulberry tree grows that is totally ignored by passers-by, and offers some of the most delicious fruit available to forage in summer.

Off on our way after lunch

After lunch, we took the path from the church shown in the picture here next to the tree .

There were some beautiful things to see along the way:

Fall foliage

Stone marker in the vineyards

Randesacker

I promise I won’t be away so long now that I’m back in good ‘ol Germany. I have lots of entries I’m planning to write about all of our adventures in September and October. Until then, hope you have a fun and safe Halloween wherever you are!

So Oui Meet Again…. August 20, 2011

Strasbourg, France

Last weekend was a long weekend here in Würzburg with the Monday being a holiday. I think it was technically a religious holiday of some sort, but as with many of the “religious” holidays here in Germany nowadays, that connection is mostly in name only. So the Mr. and I decided it was time for a short mini-break somewhere.

We decided to take the train to Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg is just over the border from Germany into northeastern France, in the Alsace region. It was historically a German-speaking city and area, so you find signs in both French and the historic version of the German language that was once spoken there. It makes for an interesting mix as it “feels” like a German city to me in many ways; the architecture looks German, they offer flammkuechen in many of the restaurants (which apparently originated in this region, but I know it only from Germany) and it’s full of German tourists. In terms of language, however, it’s most definitely French these days. Many of the shopkeepers and restaurant staff did seem to know a bit (or maybe even more than a bit) of German, but French is the primary language today. Still, knowing some German came in handy. I had a moment of triumph when I went into a Nespresso shop and wanted to ask whether they had a limited edition coffee I had ordered off of the website a few months ago. I asked the woman if she spoke English, and she said no. Before I had taken my intensive language course, I would have probably left the shop defeated. Instead I asked if she spoke German….bingo! I then proceeded to ask her in my (albeit rather crappy) German if they had this coffee I was searching for, and she understood – double bingo! Understanding her was a little tricky, but finally I got the gist of what she was saying. I felt pretty darned good at that moment, like maybe the intensive language course isn’t such a bad idea!

In "Petite-France," in Strasbourg

According to Wikipedia, Strasbourg’s city center, known as the Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, apparently the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre. Walking around, it’s not hard to see why it was the first city to be awarded this status; it’s a bit like stepping back in time. Today, Strasbourg is also the seat of several European institutions, such as the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Audiovisual Observatory) and the Eurocorps, as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union.

Apart from just taking in the atmosphere of the city, what I loved most about Strasbourg was how it really catered to its tourists with live performances of all sorts taking place from the morning until late at night, giving the city a festive feel. One of the best was a light and sound show that happened every night on the facade of the cathedral. It was dramatic and beautiful, and it didn’t hurt that there was a gelato shop right there that served up the best ice cream the Mr. and I have ever tasted.

A narrow cobbled street in Strasbourg

What I also loved about Strasbourg was the great shopping. Or, at least I think it would have been great shopping had I actually been able to go shopping. You see, I have class on Fridays until 2.15 pm, so the Mr. and I debated whether we should leave immediately after my class on Friday and come home late Sunday afternoon, or leave on Saturday morning and come home late Monday afternoon. I was in favor of leaving Friday as it would guarantee a whole day that the shops would be open, but the Mr. thought it was better to wait until Saturday morning so that we’d have a little more time altogether in the city. He reasoned that I’d have at least a couple of hours on Saturday evening after we had arrived, and then all of Monday morning. On Saturday, I made a mad rush to try to hit at least a few places (bought some amazing macaroons and chocolate), and was super excited about the all the other places I would check out on Monday morning. Well, come Monday morning, I realized that the small boutique shops I had been eagerly anticipating browsing were still closed. I had a closer look at the signs and discovered that some weren’t going to open at all on a Monday (hello! seriously?!), while most would open at 2pm. Well, better late than never, I figured. Then I started noticing signs for shops that said they should have been open by 9am on a Monday. Uh-oh….suddenly, it became clear to us that it was pretty likely nothing was going to open that day because apparently, it was a holiday there, too. Goody. The Mr. swore up and down he hadn’t planned this all out so I couldn’t go shopping and spend money, but I’m still pretty  suspicious of how it all turned out….If we ever make it back to Strasbourg, I will first of all check that there are no public holidays, and secondly, I’ll make sure we avoid the tail end of a weekend.  On a side note, I have to say that shops being closed on Sundays in Europe is one of my biggest pet peeves living here. I’ve heard the argument that it keeps at least one day when families can spend time together, but that doesn’t entirely hold up because restaurants and cafes are still open which means the staff working there aren’t spending time with their families. And given that much of Europe isn’t terribly religious these days, the argument of “keeping the Sabbath Day holy” also doesn’t really hold up. From my point of view, considering that most people work a 9-5 weekday job, it makes no sense to take away an entire day on the weekend where people can go shopping if they need or want to.  But I doubt the system is going to change just because one cranky American doesn’t like it….

Inside the Cathedral

Anyway, back to Strasbourg, I think we most definitely will go again. We’ve discovered that we have a real advantage with where we live here in Germany in that we’re in the state of Bavaria, but we’re also very close to the border of another state called Baden-Württemberg. That means that we can take advantage of cheap travel tickets in BOTH states, meaning we can go all the way to Munich, for example, for 28 euros one way (with the Bavaria ticket), or all the way to Strasbourg in France (with the Baden-Württemberg ticket) for only 28 euros. Our entire trip to Strasbourg – an almost six-hour journey – cost us only 56 euros both ways. If we had driven a car the petrol alone would have costed more than that. And actually, up to three more people could have travelled with us for that same price. It’s cheap, dependable and far-reaching public transportation that’s pretty darn awesome.  And you’ll never hear me complain about that!

Sweet and Sour August 1, 2011

As predicted, I don’t think my test today went so well. I try to console myself with the knowledge that it “doesn’t really matter,” but knowing this doesn’t help me feel any less frustrated with the hours I spent over this past weekend reviewing. It wasn’t enough. I knew it wasn’t enough (having not spent the recommended TWO HOURS every day outside of class they tell you should be learning),but I still hoped I wouldn’t find the test too difficult. I took a practice A2 test from another language school online and didn’t do too badly on that one, but it seemed a lot easier than the one I just took.

Oh, well.

I consoled myself after the test with a scoop of Tiramisu ice cream and walking around the town’s biggest bookstore for an hour. Bookstores never fail to cheer me up. I even looked at a few books with German words inside.

I’ll leave you with a few photos from a recent foraging adventure where we looked for blackberries, or brambles, as the Brits like to call them. They were some of the most delicious I’ve ever had.

Run for your lives! July 30, 2011

I’ve been m.i.a. for a while, and I’m sad to say that it’s not due to me being busy with all sorts of exciting things. Rather, it’s because the mean, nasty German language monster has taken over my life.  I have a test on Monday, and rather than spending my time studying right this minute as I should be, I thought it would be way more constructive to illustrate for you exactly what is going on:

Me and the nasty German language monster. Not sure why I look like a blow-up doll....

Moving in for the kill, as a German language monster does.

Yup, that's pretty much how it's going.