Christmas in Germany

This year we celebrated Christmas in Germany with our friends the Chaplins.  They teach at the Frankfurt International School, which looks amazing.  Our friends live outside of Frankfurt in a little Hamlet called Obereiffering (I think).  It was out in the hills and surrounded by trails, ski hills, and beautiful countryside.  We enjoyed driving through the country on our hunt for castles.  Castles were our main focus since it also appealed to our boys.  They wanted to find the dungeons of each castle and talk about the battles that were fought from the impressive walls. 

Our adventure was great, but we did miss our dear friend Charlie, who spent his entire holiday in the hospital.  He is in our thoughts and we know that tomorrow's surgery will put him back in action.  We spent many afternoons at the hospital playing cards, cracking jokes, and trying to bring a festive atmosphere to him while he stayed in the hospital.  I guess we will have to go back once he is well, so he can explore with us too.

It was amazing to be driving in the country and then seeing a castle perched high on the hill.  They are an impressive sight and to think that they were built so long ago.  Germany has so many historical layers.  We would try and picture the days of Kings, Queens, and Knights and then we would try to picture the destruction that WWI and WWII did upon this lovely country.  Lots to learn!

Bryan loved driving on the autobahn.  This is the freeway that does not have a maximum speed.  The minimum speed is listed, but other than that you can cruise as fast as you would like.  Bryan liked to cruise around 180-200 kmh and we were passed like we were standing.  We were passed by Ferraris, Mercedes, BMW's, Porches, and Bentley's to name a few. The autobahn does move quite smoothly.  We never saw traffic and were impressed by the use of clover leafs to move you from one freeway to the next.  However, on the back roads the speed limit is an issue.  Bryan managed to get two tickets.  The speed will change from 80kmh to 30kmh in the matter of a short distance.  Speed boxes are in place and will take your picture.  It snapped twice on us!  We have know idea where the ticket will go, but I am sure those Germans will somehow track us down. 

 Carter tried to keep up with this hip 8 year old.  She gave him a run for his money.

 

 This was taken in Rothenburg, Germany.  We had to climb to the top of a very steep tower to take this photo. I think the people back in the days were very small.  The steps were tiny and Bryan had to duck through each doorway.

 

 Emma, Keira and the boys.  We tried to hike often.

 The above castle ruins were only a few minutes away from the house. 

 

 We spent Christmas eve on a train headed to Frankfurt.  We then boarded the correct train, but going the wrong direction for our way home.  It was great fun being lost on Christmas Eve!  However, it all turned out well.

 Bryan enjoyed his liter of Christmas Beer and a plate of Pork Knuckle.  It was the first time we have spent Christmas Eve in a restaurant.  It was great not having to do the dishes!

 The above pictures are of Frankfurt on Christmas Eve.  Most of Frankfurt was destroyed in WWII, so it has been rebuilt to be more of a modern city.  Some parts were saved or rebuilt, but for the most part Frankfurt wouldn't be on my list of must see places in Germany.

 

 Braunfels castle was my favorite.  It was built in 1285 and parts of it are still lived in my the family.  This might have been my favorite because of the lack of people.  We took a tour in German.  We didn't learn too much, but it was fun to see the inside and listen to the language.  The boys were very eager to be close to the tour guide and listen to the stories.  I wonder if they noticed it was in a different language? We weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside.

 Torture devices were in the main squares of most little towns.

The below pictures are of Strausbourg, France.  We decided to drive about 3 hours and check out what France had to offer.  It was extremely crowded.  I could have relaxed more if I didn't have to worry about the kids getting lost.  



 I think Santa left an elf behind!

 

The below picture are of Heidelburg, Germany.  I wish we could have spent more time here.  Almost everything was closed.  Germany closes down the day before and after a holiday.  Everything is closed!  Even grocery stores!  You really have to be a planner. 

 

 
The Christmas markets are what Germany is popular for during the holiday season.  I wish we would have taken more pictures.  You could just wander the streets and visit vendors, drink warm wine, and listen to Christmas carols.  It was quite surreal. 

 These are tasty desserts are everywhere!

 

I wish we would have taken more pictures of the countryside and markets.  I guess we will have to go back.  I am also sorry if the editing to this page is funny.  The blog sight has been a little crazy this evening.  We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and many good memories were made.  We would definitely recommend traveling on the holiday season! 



Winter In The Desert

Well, winter has finally come to this area of the world.  However, winter here is like a nice spring day at home.  The wind has a little chill and I have to wear a sweater in the mornings and evenings.  Friday was the first day I put on a pair of jeans while living here.  I am thinking about wearing slacks to school tomorrow with socks!  Yikes.  Winter time is quite lovely, but it feels to cold to enjoy the pool and sea.  Maybe a few degrees warmer would be nice. Here are a few things we are up to this month:

 We each got our jerseys for the Red Sea Cyclists.  Now I need to get my butt on the bike!  They mountain bike out of the bubble Friday mornings at 5 a.m.  Our bikes just arrived, so we are hoping to ride the desert mountains in January.

 

 The Recreation Center set up a Christmas evening for the families that celebrate Christmas. 

 

 Notice that the reindeer are hooked to the wrong side of the sleigh!

 Happy!

 

 The educators were invited to an Arabian Nights formal dinner.  It was great fun eating under the stars in Saudi fashion. This is my friend Dania from the Dominican Republic.  We both turn 40 in April, so you will be seeing more pictures of us together as we celebrate in style.

 With Rebecca, Ngiare and Dania. 

 

This was are dining area. 

 My little ninja helped me make snowball cookies. 

 

 

The following pictures are from a bike ride we took a few days ago.  The humidity is finally low enough for me to snap some good pictures without having the lens fog up.  Here are some of the sights we can see each day. 

 

 We rode our bikes to the Yacht club, which was hosting several activities.  A few of the activities focused on having the kids contribute to art that will be displayed around the community.

 This sculpture was so much fun!  All you had to do was choose a color and dump over the top.  Pretty creative!

 

 On this day they were having a golf challenge.  If you could hit the golf ball into a raft you would be entered in a drawing for a year's membership.  Bryan was so close!

 The Mosque is very beautiful. 

 

 

As you can see. life in winter is super stressful here. :)  We do live in a country that does not honor any other religion, but we have found ways to make it festive here in our area of the world.  We leave for Germany in 5 days to celebrate the holidays.  We are extremely excited to see the Christmas markets and feel some freezing cold weather!  I will blog once we get there.  Take care!