A visit from Ann !!

Sara's sister, Ann, came to visit for a week. We were so grateful to her family for sharing her with us and to Mom for helping with her kids while she was gone. It was a wonderful week! Here are some highlights...




Ann left Friday midday (Iowa time) and arrived early Saturday morning (Germany time) so our job on Saturday was to keep her awake until early evening so she could crash and get adjusted to the time zone here for the week. So we tried to stay outside and moving. We started with a walk through the Hauptstrasse, some coffee and cake and then headed to the castle.













































We ate at a hotel/restaurant famous because Goethe tried to get a room here long ago and was told they were full. The restaurant/hotel is now known as the place where Goethe almost slept! Does Ann look sleepy here - she was! We got here in bed right after filling her up with a big, hot, heavy German meal.









After church on Sunday we headed to Dilsberg. Before leaving we read the legend of Dilsberg from "A Tramp Abroad" by Mark Twain. It makes the Dilsberg castle more interesting.

Monday through Friday Jeff had to work and the kids had school so I had Ann all to myself during the day! She went to see the kids' school, met their teachers, experienced their rides to school on the street car then we set off on our own adventures. Monday was rainy but that did not stop us from hiking to Heilegenberg. The views were non-existent because of the rain and fog but the hike was great and the mist gave the ruins a mysterious feel that was pretty cool.

When we woke up on Tuesday our legs were remembering Monday's climb. We needed to give them a break but we also knew we couldn't just sit around or they would stiffen up. We also had a lot of miles to make up after being separated from each other and unable to do our 6 AM morning walks since July. So after getting the kids off to school we hopped on the street car and then a bus to Schwetzingen to tour the gardens. We put on a lot of miles but they were flat miles and our pace was pretty relaxed. It was not what Ann expected. She loved it!

I think this was the afternoon, after returning to Heidelberg, that we discovered the world's BEST (I am not exaggerating) coconut ice cream. We made several visits there the rest of the week!

Wednesday, after morning pastries, we took the old train up to Konigstuhl. We took in the view on this pretty clear day and then set off to hike. I wore my pedometer that day and if it is accurate we put on a good 10 miles! We hiked the nature trail down and back up the mountain and then took another trail back down to Heidelberg.

Ann treated us to one of our favorites for supper - Doners (with pommes - fries)! We sat on the Hauptstrasse, ate, talked and watched people stroll by. It was wonderful!

Thursday was a slow, relaxing day. We started with pastries and then did some shopping for some things for Ann's kids. And we took a wonderful, relaxing ride on a solar boat on the Necker. We rode west and back east along the Necker with beautiful views of the castle the old bridge and all of the Heidelberg river front. We ended the afternoon at a bakery along the Hauptstrassehaving a little cake and coffee.

Friday we had pastries (nut horns this time!) and then went to Eberbach with Jeff after his German lessons. We had a nice tour of the company offices then we went out to lunch in Eberbach. The weather was beautiful and we ate outside. After a wonderful lunch we had to visit a fabulous ice cream shop right next door. Jeff was amazed at how we were able to get these down, no problem, after a big lunch. We claimed as we ordered that we would probably need his help but we didn't :) !

That evening, after a (very) light supper, we headed to the Hauptstrasse for neuer wine (new wine) and zwebelkuchen (onion cake) a German fall specialty.

It was a wonderful week! Thanks Ann! We miss you and love you!

Home sweet home

Several of you have asked for some photos of our house and neighborhood as well as updates on school for the kids.

School is going really well. Ellen attends a high school here in Heidelberg. She bikes or walks to a city bus and takes it about 4 stops to her school. She is taking several AP classes so is staying academically really challenged. She is making some nice new friends. The boys attend another school (also in Heidelberg) and have also made the adjustment really well - making friends and enjoying their teachers. We walk to a main public transportation hub (about 10 minutes), take a tram/streetcar to their school (about 10 minutes) and the tram stop is just 1/2 block from their school. Ellen and Joseph are taking Spanish. Joseph and Daniel are taking German. The German class Ellen needed conflicted with AP Chemistry so she will pick that up again next year.

Right now I am taking German lessons - they were 4 hours per day, every day. Now Jeff goes for one hour alone, we are together for one hour and then I am alone for another hour. Everything is in German so explanations of German grammer is in German, the meanings of German words I don't know are in German, etc. Jeff was also taking German lessons almost every day but because of work committments, his were a bit more sporatic - he usually went about 3 afternoons per week. This new schedule allows him to get more time in at work and helps us do some German speaking at home to reinforce what we are working on in class. Jeff's commute is shorter than it was back in Iowa by about 1/2. He drives past 4 or 5 castles each way.

We live in the Altstadt neighborhood of Heidelberg, within easy walking distance of the Necker River, the castle, the Alte Bruke and the Hauptstrasse. It is an ideal location because of easy access to public transportation, easy access to the old parts of Heidelberg but it is fairly quiet as well. We have met several of our neighbors and they are really nice. Most speak pretty good English so we have been spoiled. We asked our next door neighbors to try to speak German with us when possible. We want to practice!

We climb 50 steps to our front door and then our house has 6 levels (or 1/2 levels) so we are getting in really good shape. It has 4 bedrooms and 2 baths, a kitchen, laundry/utility room, living/dining room and 2 open spaces we use as a breakfast nook and an office. It has lots of windows and the stairs are very open. The boys share a room and we use one room as a guest room/TV room (come visit!). We also have a nice covered patio for eating and grilling. Our backyard is up the mountain and there are lots of wild blackberries, stinging nettle and ticks (ugh)!

Here are some photos of our house and some daily routines...





The boys are getting ready for school.
















Playing in a park near our house.











Ellen in her new Homecoming outfit in the breakfast nook outside the kitchen. We use this area a lot - for breakfast and after school snacks, for homework, etc.










Jeff in his office at work.







Feeding the ducks, geese and swans at the Necker River.











Ellen's bedroom. When the leaves fall in the winter she has a view of the castle! She loves her room - so much that she is actually keeping it quite neat!










The boys and some friends having an after-school snack on our patio.







The dining room...














A couple views of the living room...


















A view of the breakfast nook from just outside the living/dining room. We really use this space - snacks, homework, etc.







The kitchen -- small but unbelievable efficient. When my sister was here Ellen, Ann and I were all working in here and not stepping on each other!









The guest room/TV room. Ann said the sofabed slept pretty good!









The office which is just outside of Ellen's bedroom.









This is just outside of our bedroom and the master bath and just upstairs from the office.









Joseph and some friends at a birthday party - this is actually at a Kentucky Fried Chicken!









Ellen and some friends she ran into at the Heidelberger Herbstfest.





I hope this gives you a little taste of our daily lives and environment. To get a real feel you will have to COME VISIT!!! :)

Koln (Cologne)

Another weekend... Friday was a busy one. Joseph had his friend Max over for supper and to play in the forest. Ellen got out of school early for a teacher in-service and she was out and about with her friend Kat. They shopped on the Hauptstrasse, went to Kat's house, watched a movie at our house and went to a "club" until midnight - this is a big dance hall that "all" the teenagers go to on weekend nights. They had a blast! Jeff and I were invited to the neighbor's house and had a really nice time with them.

Saturday we decided to head north to Koln (the o should have an umlaut and for you Americans that is Cologne :) ). Koln is the 4th largest city in Germany. It is west centrally located, built along the Rhein River. It is a really old city. The old Roman wall, parts of which are still standing, dates to 50 AD. There are lots of Roman excavations and it was neat to think that some of the things we were seeing were built only a decade or so after Jesus' death and resurrection! Koln is probably most famous for its amazing immense cathedral - the Kolner Dom.

Here are some highlights of our day in Koln...


The main attraction in Koln is the unbelievably huge and beautiful Kolner Dom. This was the site of church structures since at least the fourth century (early 300's). The cathedral that stands today was built in the middle of the eleventh century. It is so unbelievably huge it is impossible to get into a single picture but here are portions of it in several pictures.

























To give you some idea of the size of this thing - here is a true size replica of the decorative structures you see at the very top of the cathedral's spires...





















The view from the top of the cathedral (some 500+ steps) is breathtaking. Ok, that is what Jeff, Ellen, Joseph and Daniel said. And the pictures bear that out. However, a particularly severe case of vertigo prevented Sara from making the last 40 or so steps out to the viewing platform. Oh, well.



























The inside of the cathedral is beautiful too - sculptures, paintings, stained glass that are old, intricate and just beautiful.



This Mary statue is connected to several miracles.


















Here is Daniel under the "Daniel" stained glass window :) !

















But, the main attraction is a gold covered shrine said to hold the bones of the Three Magi. We couldn't get very close but even from a distance it was impressive!





















Koln is a very old city. It has a wall, some of which still stands, that dates to about 50 AD. Here is part of the wall,


a corner tower,








and a doorway arch.


















There are excavations all over this old city. Some of them can be visited. This one was below another church.














Koln is a beautiful city and we loved it! Jeff especially loved the autobahn on the way home. Here is proof that he drove 200 kph. My knuckles are still white!