After our return from Lake Constance, it was time to start getting ready for the first day of school at Heidelberg International School. The kids were actually really looking forward to going back. We were all starved from some good conversation (in English!). There was an open house Friday morning only for the new parents at the school which was brilliant. Most of the families were just like us, far from home, trying to get settled in a new country. I have never so much enjoyed a school function. There were families from all over - Australia, England, US, Italy, Scotland, etc. The school is international but English-speaking. Some German families even put their kids in the school specifically to learn English. Almost everyone speaks English here (especially the younger generations) which is the case in most of Europe. For this reason, families from other European countries put their children here, as they are much more likely to speak English than German. English is the common denominator. I think this morning was a turning point for all four of us where the home-sickness subsided a little. Mary King, especially, left very excited about going to school there and been went from cold to warm toward the idea. He admitted it might not be so bad after all.
At the tram stop
On the tram...love MK's little hat she picked out. heehee
Ben looking JAZZED!
One afternoon, while trying to find a groomer for Molly, (and after a long journey on a tram because I went the wrong direction at first), I came to a door with this poster on it. It was not a joke, but I felt like someone was playing one - on me. :)
Peeping Brad from our window.
On one of our first weekends, we took a boat trip down the Neckar River east of Heidelberg. We passed the town of Neckargemund and then went on to Neckarsteinach, which was to be our final destination. We had lunch and a Dunkelweisen at a biergarten called Schwanen-Garten overlooking the river just as you get off the boat. I noticed a flyer for a medievel festival when we were getting off the boat, so we looked it up on at lunch and decided to skip the castles of Neckarsteinach and take a train to nearby Hirshchorn, where the festival was being held. Good decision. We left after lunch and had a blast at the festival..
Side note: A bit about Neckarsteinach: The main attractions are the four castles: castle front , middle castle , Hinterburg and gunwale (also: Swallow's Nest). The castles were built from 1100 to 1230. The middle castle, the 16th Century and rebuilt into a Renaissance palace in the 19th Gothicised century, is now occupied by the family of Warsberg-Dorth, the front castle is the seat of Warsberg's forestry department. The ruins Hinterburg and gunwales are freely accessible and can be visited.
Views from the boat as we traveled down the Neckar River.
You often see these big boats moving trash/recyclable materials down the river.
This is a building in Neckarsteinach that I liked.
At the festival in Hirschorn:
These were made from wet mud and hay.
Real funnel cakes.
This guy made a career out of the Fushigi Ball and Ben is captivated.
I took a pic of this for JJ and Brooke, party planners extraordinaire. Thought it was a cute and inexpensive idea.
When I first saw this, I thought it was fake, but there are real, smoked fish in there. YUM.
Giant, grilling machine.
Mary King got a bull's eye so got a free try. A real, live Princess Merida (from Brave).
Kids got locked up and then Mary King had to wear the mask of shame. Guess they were misbehaving. (I thought she was brave just to put it on.)
We left Hirshhorn and headed back to Heidleberg, via train, for the Schlossbeleuchtung (castle illumination) which happens three times a year. They illuminate the castle and have a fireworks display over the "old bridge". We had a good view of fireworks, but sat on wrong side of river to best see the castle. We'll know for next time. Here is picture of what it looks like from our side of the river:
A day in the life in Heidelberg:
Laundry happens and so does the drying rack which really isn't too bad actually...I'm happy to report.
Molly sleeping on my pillow.
(Gator fans will love the bedding. A little ironic for this Seminole fan. ;)
No SUV's here, folks. Less is seriously more.
This was Ben's flag football team. It was NOTHING like youth sports at home. The team was made up of boys ages 10-15 years old so a few of the boys were at least 3x Ben's size. Generally speaking, there is not nearly the emphasis on sports as a whole here as in the US (or at least as in Alpharetta/the South). Of course, football (American soccer) is the sport of choice in Europe, and really the world, so American football is not a big draw here by any means...The Land of Misfit Toys comes to mind. Anyway, Ben decided not to play but only because we, as a family, decided we did not want the commitment of being on a team for the time we are here.
Yep.
We have seen this contraption at a lot of the parks here. The parks in Germany are wonderful and plentiful. They are not as "safety-crazed" here as in the US with regard to kids. I mean they haven't even banned merry-go-rounds and see-saws...oh, the horror! (These are both "banned" in the US in a lot of areas due to safety issues.) In fact, the kids seem to fly solo a lot of the time. We see elementary school aged kids commuting to school on the tram/bus alone all the time...or riding bikes around town which is amazing given the traffic. They learn how to navigate these busy roads from a very young age. German children do an excellent job at avoiding trams, trains, buses, other commuter bikes, pedestrians and, oh yeah, cars. Maybe I should take a lesson from the neighborhood kids! Not joking...and I'm a cyclist!
You will often hear Germans refer to "the forest". Germans are generally very active, fit and outdoorsy people. They have built an amazingly intricate system of well- marked trails that lead from town to town and all around. We can leave our apartment in the heart of the city and bike/hike/walk forever (hundreds of miles) along the river to other towns, etc. It is amazing. It is probably my favorite thing about this country, but also the part I've been least able to take advantage of because of our short time here. The Philosophenweg (Philosopher's Way) is one such trail and happens to start one block from our apartment. It follows the Neckar River east out of Heidelberg. They say it was where philosophers used to come and walk and look out over the river and old city of Heidleberg (now the Astadt) to ponder life.
Molly pondering life. (She's pretty intense).
You see these fountains a lot of place and they are meant to drink out of...the water comes from springs right out of the mountain.
On the Philosophenweg, this scary guy guarded one passage to someone's home.
This is a view from the Philosophenweg.
The "American section" at the Rewe, which is where I do most of my grocery shopping.
Sadly, you are hard pressed to go to a place in the world that does NOT have a McDonald's and Heidelberg is no exception. I did notice that the meat actually looks like meat and they have only ONE size of shake that is a little smaller than a small in the US (see above photo). My kids were in shock and awe that this is the only size. I explained to them that this is an appropriate portion and that thankfully Europe may have adopted McDonald's but not the "super-size"!
This is a Brat sandwich we got at a rowing (crew) Regatta on the river. It must be a big sport here as we see the boats out all the time. I'm sure Heidelberg University has a team and it seems people do it for sport/exercise as well.
Kids entered a contest on rowing machines to raise $ for cancer.
This guy was probably singing Elvis or the Beatles at the time I took this picture. I've heard more American "oldies" (with a distinct slant toward 80's) music here than in my entire life. They also play most of our current pop music - although a bit behind. The German radio stations do not censor music at all. Ben noticed it straight off as we heard Pink screaming over and over that she's "had a sh*t day". Sorry to hear that, Pink. They must really like her here because I can't seem to shake that song.
Another cool thing at a park by the river.
Here I am pretending to take a photo of Brad so I could get a photo of the men in the background in lederhosen (traditional Bavarian garb). We were at a brewery in Heidelberg's Alstadt called Vetters. It's getting close to Oktoberfest, after all!
Above the Astadt (old town) and Heidelberg castle at the summit of Koenigstuhl, which means holy mountain.
Hiked back down the "stairway to heaven" from top of Koenigsthul to the Hiedleberg Castle...pictured here.
Waiting in line for crepes (chocolate or cinnamon sugar) at the Heidelberg Schwimmbad (swimming pool).
Mary King's gymnastics class. We tried 3 different ones in various suburbs of Heidelberg and landed on this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment