The Einstein Races

Start of the 5k race

The city I live in, Ulm, is famous for two things: we have to world's tallest church, and Albert Einstein was born here.  The name Einstein is used everywhere here from cafes to computer repair shops, and every October, Ulm hosts the Einstein Marathon and associated races.

Our pre-race selfie

I really wanted to participate in the races, so my husband and I both registered for the 10k (6.2 miles). The other races offered included the marathon, half-marathon, 5k, nordic walking, in-line skating, and hand-bike options.  There were over 12,000 people participating in the races that day!  

Waiting at the starting line

I have never run in such a crowded race.  Dan had decided that he wanted us to run together, which is a good thing since I don't know that we would have ever found each other again among so many people!

The course ran along the Danube and through the city

Thank goodness we bumped into a friend before the race began, and she told us that the start times had been pushed back.  With so much noise and people my German was not good enough to understand the loudspeaker announcement about the delayed races.

A photo of the nordic walking race and samba performers

There was also a really big turn out for the children's races, which were held the previous weekend.  I am so proud of my kids for participating.  Meredith was the youngest runner from their school, and her course was 400 m, while Ryan's course was 1200 m.  I have proudly displayed our four matching finisher medals!

Ryan looking nervous before his race

Meredith after crossing the finish line

Germany has amazing biking/walking/running trails that crisscross the entire country through cities and farmland.  I could go out from my house and run for miles and miles without ever having to share the road with cars.  I find that Germans have an intrinsic desire to be outdoors and active.  Even in the dead of winter I see many people out walking through the fields and riding bikes.  I wish I could say that I will be out there running in the dead of winter as well, but I think I would be lying!  Unfortunately, I haven't run much since the race because all of my free time goes to my German course and studying in the evening.  Luckily, my course will be over soon, and I will revel in my free time, and hopefully be pounding pavement once again!  

Hiking in Germany

Fall hike at Partnach Gorge

If there is one thing that we have noticed in Germany, it is that people love to walk- in the neighborhood, to the bakery or grocery store, along farm roads, or in the mountains.  Even if it is raining in February and only 35 degrees, there will still be loads of people out for a stroll.  We have found that Germans love fresh air, and that going outside regularly is an important habit to them.
 

Summer hike at Breitach Gorge

We have been trying to embrace this habit, and we have started going on some short hikes.  Before we had kids Dan and I used to go hiking frequently, and he even asked me to marry him during a hike to a waterfall in  the North Carolina Mountains.

Partnach

Two of our favorite hikes have been at gorges in the Alps.  We have visited the Breitach Gorge in Oberstdorf, and the Partnach Gorge in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.  These gorges are so beautiful, I know that my photos cannot do them justice.

Partnach

We have found that our kids are happiest when we have them outside and in nature, where they can go at there own pace and explore.  We have also found that we never seem to have enough snacks along.

Breitach

These photos somehow depict that we had the trails to ourselves, but that is far from reality!  Both trails were absolutely jammed with people.  

Partnach

There are so many interconnecting trails through the Alps that people can choose paths vary from easy wandering paths to week-long mountain treks.  There are also many mountain huts scattered throughout the trails for hikers to overnight.  There are also a lot of mountain top restaurants that people can hike to, eat and have a beer, then continue on their way (often you can also take the easy way by means of a cable car, which suits us a bit better!)

With all the toys we have the kids are
happiest to play with sticks and rocks!

Since our daughter is still only five, we do our best to keep the hikes short.  Hopefully as the kids get older, their endurance will improve and we will be able to explore the trails a bit more.  When we lived in North Carolina, we were in a very flat area with few hiking possibilities, so we hope to capitalize on our mountain experiences while we are here in southern Germany.

Photos from Strasbourg, France

Cathedrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg

Back in the Summer we headed over to Strasbourg, France to check out the Alsace Region, which is famous for storks and wine.   If I remember correctly, it was about a four hour car trip from Ulm. 


We enjoyed this restaurant and got to sit down by the water!

Ryan loved this fountain

We visited the typical tourist sights, did a lot of walking, and poked our heads into a few souvenir shops.  Unfortunately, we didn't do a lot of wine tasting.  Despite the fact that we take our kids everywhere with us, we didn't feel that having the kids along would be a very relaxing wine tasting experience.  I did buy a few bottles to taste at home though!

 



Protesters camping outside the European Parliament

What a lovely bakery window!

We visited the Parc de l'Orangerie in search of storks, and found only a few.  Now that we know what storks look like, we see them frequently in Germany!

This looks much more relaxing than it actually was...
the kids fought over the oars the whole time!

Ryan was really looking excited to try escargot, and he really liked them!  He wanted to order them at every restaurant we went to, but they aren't exactly cheap!  He was also in crème brulee heaven.  Eating regional foods and trying new things is definitely our favorite part of travelling!

Ryan eating Escargot

 

Strasbourg was nice because it was an easy city to visit with kids, and great for a quick dose of French cuisine and culture.  It was a great base for visiting some of the smaller (quainter) towns in the area, and if I had to do it again, I would have only spent one night in Strasbourg instead of three, and then also a spend a night or two in Colmar, which is south of Strasbourg along the 'Route de Vins' (wine road).  Hopefully we will make it back to Colmar, and I also hope to travel much more in France!

 



Daily Life in Germany: Grocery Shopping

Seeing as how I am a housewife, dietitian, and mother of two, I do a lot of cooking, and with all that cooking comes a lot of grocery shopping.  Grocery shopping in Germany is a bit different than shopping in the US, mostly due to the fact that I have to put a little bit more effort into the process.
 

 There are some larger grocery stores here (such as Edeka and Kaufland), but there are also many smaller neighborhood stores (such as Aldi and Lidl).  I typically shop at a larger Kaufland, and my neighborhood Aldi.

My two shopping helpers

I will admit that I actually drive past one Kaufland to go to one further away simply because I don't have to park as far away at the latter location (Who wants to have to park in a parking garage and push your shopping cart a quarter mile?)  The parking lot where I do my shopping is actually on the roof of the store, and I bring the cart down to the main level via conveyor belt.

Coin slot for unlocking the shopping cart

Every store that has shopping carts makes you pay a deposit of an euro, which you don't get back until you have returned your cart to the proper location and hooked it into another cart.  I always try to keep a couple of euro coins in my car, but occasionally they get used and I have found myself unable to get a cart!

Unrefrigerated eggs would horrify American shoppers!

In Germany all cashiers sit in chairs while they work, and in the US, cashiers have to stand throughout the shift, so they can bag everything for you.  Cashiers in Germany do not bag groceries, and they scan the food so fast that you cannot even bag the items yourself during the time of checkout.  I have seen people with items falling to the floor because they don't move everything to the cart fast enough.  Most people just load everything back into the cart as fast as they can, and then organize everything when they get back to their car. 

If you need a bag at the checkout, you have to pay for each bag you take.  For years in the US I have been using my reusable bags, so it is pretty ingrained in my head that if I go into a store I need to bring bags, even at stores like Toys-R-US.  Most clothing stores give you bags for free though.  I have actually started using milk crates to carry groceries because they are faster to load, which is useful when you are standing in the rain or it is freezing cold! 

In the US, I would do one major shopping trip per week, and maybe one more smaller one if I forgot something.  Here in Germany most people go to the store many times throughout the week, and often everyday.  Therefore, at checkout, people are usually only buying 5-10 things at a time, and the line goes pretty quick.  If you have an entire cart full of food (in typical American shopping style) the people waiting in line behind you will be quick to give you impatient stares.  I have found that I have also fallen into the routine of shopping every couple of days instead of once a week.  My refrigerator/freezer here is much smaller and cannot hold that much food. 

 Prices for prepackaged food are about the same as in the US, but often cheaper (organic whole wheat spaghetti is only 0.99 in Germany, and I think I paid about $2.50 in the US).  My favorite thing about buying groceries in Germany is how inexpensive the produce is.  In Germany I buy red peppers for 0.99/pound, and in the US the price was often $2.50 for one red pepper!!  We eat so many more fresh vegetables and fruits here than we did in the US.  (please note that I am comparing the prices from eastern North Carolina, and hopefully other people have lower produce prices elsewhere in the country).

I find myself dreaming of the day that I get to go shopping at Harris Teeter again, where I get to park right in front of the store, have everything bagged for me and then even smile while they offer to help me out to the car!  I know that time will come before I know it, and I am sure I will then be saying how much I miss shopping in Germany...maybe.

The Hills are Alive with The Sound of Music!!!

Back in June, Dan's mother, Theresa, was here visiting, and we took a week-long trip to Berchtesgaden, Germany and Salzburg, Austria.  We had visited Salzburg six years ago when Ryan was a toddler, and we knew that we had to take Dan's mom since the whole family loves The Sound of Music (and who doesn't?).

The house where Mozart was born.

The city of Salzburg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the birthplace of Mozart.  It is such a nice city to visit because it isn't as overwhelming as many of the European cities, and you can get around really easy by foot (even with kids in tow!).  The people were friendly toward us as tourists, everything is well maintained and clean, and I felt like it was a very family-friendly city.

Main pedestrian street in Salzburg.

On our first evening in Salzburg we visited the Marionette Theater and saw a marionette production of The Sound of Music.  It was really a special event for us to go to the theater, and we all loved it!

The next day we took the 'Fraulein Maria's The Sound of Music Bike Tour', and luckily we had a perfect sunny day.  We had so much fun, and got to see so much more of Salzburg and the movie sights than we would have if we had been trying to find the sights ourselves.  

A bicycle made for Daddy and Daughter!

We have confidence in confidence!

Grandma Tete and Dan with the
Hohensalzburg Castle behind them.

Lucky for me they are not yet '16 going on 17'!

We visited the Hohensalzburg Castle on a rainy day and took the audio-guided tour. Unfortunately, Ryan was sick that day, and I kept the kids in the hotel for the morning to rest.  Dan and Theresa ended up taking a walk in the rain and happened upon a pipe-organ concert in a church, and visited one of the museums.

Meredith in Mirabelle Gardens

I highly recommend the hotel where we stayed, the Hotel Elefant. It was right in the middle of the historic area, with all the main sights close-by.  Many times we visit cities and feel stressed by all the chaos of city-life and public transportation, but visiting Salzburg was so relaxing and beautiful.  Hmm, maybe we should go back since I think we are due for some relaxation, and desperate need of it!!!!

Tut Mir Leid, Ich Bin Deutsch Lernen

It has been almost two months since I have posted anything on this blog.  This is not for lack of good stories to share, because I have many fun things to share from our summer adventures. Rather, it is because I have been taking an intensive German course in an effort to improve my horrific language acquisition abilities!

In August we passed our one-year mark for living in Germany.  I had thought that with a little bit of studying and simply by living in Germany and being surrounded by the language, I would have no trouble learning Deutsch.  Unfortunately, I was very wrong about this!

My kids attend an English language International School, and because of this, it was very easy to make English speaking friends.  Therefore, because we speak English at home, at school, and at social events, I have found that I have not been as immersed in the language and I had imagined I would be. 

 

The language school I attend is called Inlingua.  In the spring I had some private classes, which were helpful, but very expensive.  When the kids went back to school in August, I jumped into the intensive course, and I go Monday-Friday for 3-1/2 hours each day.  Now that I have attended for five weeks, I can clearly see that I am finally improving.  The problem is that the more I learn, the more I can see how much MORE I need to learn if I can ever dream of being able to hold a decent conversation without sounding like a toddler! 

At this point I am registered for three more weeks of classes.  I am afraid that I will feel like a failure if I quit before I can speak comfortably, so maybe I will continue on a bit longer if possible. 

 

In any country, the citizens (understandably) want foreigners to speak the language if they want to live in certain country.  While most people are kind, or at least tolerant of my incoherent attempts at speaking German, every once in a while we come across people that can be downright rude about the fact that we are living here and can not yet speak German.  It has made me wonder about how foreigners in the United States are treated.  So please be kind to people who may not speak perfect English, because living as a foreigner at trying to learn a language is more difficult that it looks!!

 

Kehlsteinhaus, aka The Eagle's Nest

 

As part of our trip to Berchtesgaden, Germany, we visited the Kehlsteinhaus.  Kehlsteinhaus was built by the Nazi party as a 50th birthday gift for Adolf Hitler in 1938.

 

 

Hitler had a mountain house at the bottom of the mountain, and this facility only served as a place to entertain dignitaries.  Supposedly he only visited ten times due to a fear of heights and confined spaces.  The tour guide said that Hitler's girlfriend, Eva Braun, visited the house more frequently.  It was also used to host a wedding reception for her sister.

 

Entrance tunnel leading to the elevator to the top

The building was an intended target to be bombed my the Royal Air Force, but it is believed that it was missed as a result of low cloud cover during the raid.  At that time Hitler's mountain residence was bombed as well as many other targets in the Berchtesgaden/Obersalzburg area. 

The US Army was the first to take the town of Berchtesgaden and the 'Eagle's Nest' in May 1945.  It was used by Allied Forces until 1960, when it was given back to the State of Bavaria. 

 

 
Today the building is used as a restaurant, and is a popular place for tourists to visit.  The building was not very big, and did not have a lot of historical information presented, but the view was amazing!

Cheers to the Allied Forces!

The bird really wanted our left-over cake.

 
Despite the fact that we have smiling faces in the pictures, we did not take visiting the Kehlsteinhaus lightly.  We used the opportunity to talk to the kids about the war, and remember the terrible atrocities committed by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. 

Being a Jewish woman, it is heartbreaking to think how much different my life and the lives of my children here in Germany would have been 70 years ago.  I am so grateful for all that we have, this amazing opportunity to live and travel in Europe, and for the fact that I can raise my kids without fear or suffering.