German via Tallahassee week 18 Merry Christmas!!

Germany via Tallahassee week 18 Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas 2011 to all of you

This week has been fabulous.  I forgot how wonderful the weather was here is Florida.  It has been “shorts” weather every day and I have taken advantage of soaking up the sun every chance I get.  I started out the week with a get together at the house. I usually throw a Christmas party every year so I was glad that I did not have to stop that tradition.  I have had to forgo so many other traditions.  I am thankful for the friends who were able to drop by, it was great to see all of you.

The next day I had to pick up some Christmas presents and start the wrapping.  I finally got all of the presents wrapped and bought and that was a big load off of me.  I went out with my sister and daughter and a friend to a movie and that was nice.  It was nice to just get into the car and go.  Something that I don’t seem to be able to do in Germany. It is always an ordeal to do anything.

Yesterday was a busy day seeing relatives and exchanging presents and taking my dad to see the Christmas lights and watching Christmas Vacation another tradition.

Today was a glorious: up at 6am and opening presents, cooking and eating and then to a movie with the family.  Loved it all and the family loved the European themed presents this year.  J

I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.  I am thankful for the family I was born into and the friends that are like family.

Merry Christmas to all and have a wonderful day after Christmas too.  I plan on hitting up some after Christmas sales. I have not defiled my credit card enough. lol

Anyway next time I write it will be from Germany. We go back at the end of the week to experience the New year Germany style, but while we are still here I will be soaking up the sun.

With that I will close. Once again, Merry Christmas!!

Hugs to all,

Susan

Germany Week 17- Christmas Traditions and trip back to Tallytown

Germany Week 17- Christmas Traditions and trip back to Tallytown

Merry Christmas:

Week 17 was my last week in school for 2011.  Usually when I sit in the teacher’s lounge and ask what are you doing for break.  I get things like: “Visiting relatives.  Relatives coming.  Family around.” And things of that sort.  When I sat in the lounge this week and asked what are you doing for winter break.  The answers varied from: “We are going to Turkey, Istanbul, Rome, Camp Verde, London, etc.”  It is a different world.

There are other differences too.  Since I am home I thought I would write about a few I noticed about Christmas.  In Germany it is all about the Christmas markets and about craftsmanship.  The things they sell are things that have been made. The markets are open until December 23^rd and then from what I have been told, everything shuts down including restaurants as they kind of hibernate until New Year’s Eve.  No big after Christmas sales.  I won’t be there to see it firsthand so I have to trust my source. Germany is big on the Christmas tree but they decorate the tree on Christmas Eve.  Below is a picture of the Christmas tree at school and the Christmas tree at home that Thomas and Amanda put up for me in my absence.  It’s the first real tree we have had in a while.  I like it.

The German people do not go crazy with outside lights although I did see a few.  They bake a lot. The stocking tradition also came from them.  They put boots out to be filled with goodies or coal.  Below is a picture of a cup made into a boot.

It snowed on the last day but baby car and me just trucked behind a truck that carved our way on the autobahn.  They actually had a few accidents that last morning. Below are a couple of pictures of the snow outside my classroom window.

My flight was long but when the prize at the end is landing at home it did not seem too bad.  My dog is still loving on me and seemed really happy I’m home.

I have lots of plans for my two weeks here and will be spending lots of time with family and friends.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas.  I will write a short bog next week just to keep up my weekly notes. And with that I will close.

Take care.

Hugs for now from Tallahassee.

Susan

Germany Week 16 Dresden, Snow, sleet, hail Yeah it was that kind of week plus of course another Christmas Market

Germany Week 16  Dresden, Snow, sleet, hail  ---Yeah, Yeah, Yeah  it was that kind of week plus of course another Christmas Market ( hey it is the season)

Hello from Germany:

First of the week started out with a talk at school about weather and black ice snow conditions. True to form the very next morning I awoke to a snow covered ground.  Now mind you it was pretty to look at and I looked at it, but it was scary to drive on.  I took the autobahn and drove about 40 mph behind a truck who was carving the way for me.  The worse place was from my garage to the first road after that it was all plowed.  At school it snowed all day until mid day then it all melted.  It has not snowed to stick on the ground since.  I am crossing my fingers it will hold off till after I leave for Christmas.

Wednesday they had a weather watch for 45 mph winds.  It was supposed to last until 4pm or 1600 hours over here.  I decide to do a bunch of errands and fool around on base so it would be over with by the time I left.  But alas that is not what happened.  I ended up coming out of the commissary about 4:30pm or 1630 hours and the clouds were billowing in.  Just about the time I got on the curviest road here-- the hail fell.  Strong hail—baby car kept right on plugging though it.   About the time we got on the straight road we came out from behind the hills and the wind hit us.  So me and baby car had a hairy ride home. Needless to say I took my time getting home that day.  Then Friday I drove home is sleet and snow again.  Guess it’s winter here. Lol

Friday I cooked in our Christmas dinner in my room—part of my class is learning how to cook.  We had manly (it was an on line recipe of an easy dressing) dressing and cool whip cookies and ham slices and I made sweet potato soufflé and it was delicious.  For any of you who know me that is a miracle- I always botch the sweet potato soufflé but I might have to do this recipe for Christmas. Finally, I made it edible.  lol

Sunday I went on the military bus to Dresden one of the biggest Christmas markets in Germany.  I went to the museum about transportation very interesting and went up to the top of the Dresden Frauenkirche,  (see the pcitures below that is from the top of the Frauenkirche) and saw the River Elbe.  A beautiful city that was demolished in the war but they have rebuilt a lot of it.  The Christmas market was out of this world. I guess this will be the last one before I head home.  I had a great time and still came back with a bit of money in my pocket.  See pictures below.
This will be my last entry before traveling to Tallytown for Christmas.  I am looking forward to daylight for more than 7-8 hours and some warmth.  And of course getting to see my family and friends.

I will write next Sunday and let you know how my week went.

Once again--  Hugs from Germany.

Susan

Germany Week 15- Military Police and German movie theater and yes another Christkindlmarkt ( street markets)

Germany Week 15- Military Police and German movie theater and yes another Christkindlmarkt ( street markets)

Dear all:

Monday, since I was by myself, I decided to go the autobahn to work-that was a  good choice for all days, but I decided to go through another gate to the post, bad choice.  I had my first ( and hopefully my last) fender bender, I was impatient about one line and thought I was the last car and the other line had cleared out.  So I proceeded to back up and hit the car behind me.  In my defense, I think he was looking for his ID because he was to my right an odd place to be since the road curved from the left so I did not see him at all.  Anyway, I got out he got out. The MP’s were called and before all was said and done he left before they came ( don't ask  I couldn't figure that one out either) and left me to give all information and go to the MP station to do the police report. An ominous place with a real jail- don’t want to get thrown in there-makes me shudder to think.  Baby car suffered a little scrape that is so minuscule that I probably won’t get it fixed. Since then no mishaps, keeping my fingers crossed.

This past Friday, I went to the tree lighting ceremony at the post.  Arriving by a fire truck with much grandeur were Santa, Mrs. Claus, the reindeer, elves and a little girl who lit the tree whose father was deployed.  With all of the soldiers the true meaning of Christmas shone though. 

Then I went with a friend to a real German theater to see Breaking Dawn in English.  They listed it as the OV  which means Original Version.  It was great and not too crowded.  It was a huge complex and when you buy your ticket you have to select seats so it’s like a football game, assigned seats, no first come first serve.  I kind of liked that but it did slow the lines so I can see why America doesn’t do it.

Yesterday I went to the school’s basketball games, they were lots of fun.  They ran four games in a row, but with that many games, it was a long day.  Afterwards, I went with a couple of ladies from work to another Christkindlmarkt ( street market).  This one had a medieval theme.  Everyone was dressed in medieval costume.  There were camels and ponies and the wares were mostly of the handmade variety.  I have to admit I spent a little money. J  The prices were reasonable and the items were authentic, a combination I find too hard to resist. There was also a reenactment of the nativity story, very interesting and with the costumes and camels it seemed very real. Lots of woodwork and wreaths and things made from natural sources.  There is also the Christmas wine at all of these street markets that you pay for the cup and then get refills over and over again.  The Germans love to drink beer and wine.

I went to the Post's movie theater today.  Lots different, only a couple of previews because they only show 2-3 new movies at a time.  Also you stand up for the National Anthem at the beginning- course I like that part.

I am looking forward to coming home in a couple of weeks. And with that I will close.  Hope you all have a great week.

Hugs from Germany,

Susan

Germany Week 14 –Thanksgiving with the soldiers and a couple of Christkindlmarkt ( street markets)

Germany Week 14 –Thanksgiving with the soldiers and a couple of Christkindlmarkt ( street markets)

Dear All,

This week we all went to Thanksgiving dinner with the soldiers.  It was unbelievable, the spread they had.  All you can eat turkey, ham, lobster, and every kind of salad and side dish you could dream up and a table full of desserts that were out of this world.  I loved it!!  We ate till our bellies were full. See pictures below.

After the dinner we went to Nuremburg with Amanda and her friend.  We saw the beginnings of the Christmas markets.  We got the boots to drink out of and bought some charms for their Pandora bracelets to represent where they had visited.  Me, I am collecting my thimbles from everywhere.

Friday they all left :( and because we had gotten our furniture finally about 4pm the day before they came, I spent most of Friday catching up on sleep and trying to actually organize our stuff instead of just throwing it in drawers.  Because we brought over the wrong size bed frame ( don’t ask -who knows why?) our bed is almost to the ceiling. See picture below it is quite humorous to try to climb up and down off the perch.  Just one more story.

Saturday, I sent the last of my Christmas packages to the house in Tallahassee.  I am ordering everything else for Christmas on line- first time I’ve ever done that and having it sent to the house. I'm ususally a Black Friday junkie. But online ordering is  pretty easy. I got up with a friend and we went to two Christmas markets yesterday afternoon and the mall ( a little retail therapy).  Loads of fun.  The Germans do love to party.  They just finished up with Oktoberfest so I guess they took a little break and now it’s time for Christmas which seems to be nonstop till January 6^th. And if you’ve ever been to my house during Christmas with my five trees and counting you know I kind of like Christmas too.  This year at home will be minimal and a real tree.  Thomas is looking forward to it.  Did not want to spend my couple of weeks home decorating and taking it down.

I am busy writing my Christmas cards to send from here.  With that I will close for this week.  Have a great week.

Hugs from Germany,

Susan

Germany Week 13- Daughter Visits and London

Germany Week 13- Daughter Visits and London

Hello all:

Sorry I am a bit late with the blog. We got in late last night and I had to get up at 4am to get the girls off to the train for Amsterdam and then to work early at 6am and worked until 6pm. Hoping to catch up with my sleep this weekend.

Amanda and her friend, Constance, flew in last Friday and came by school. It was Constance’s birthday on Sunday so my students baked her a birthday cake. She seemed to like it. We ate out at the local brewery place. Loads of fun. We really played tourist taking pictures of the beer and the food on the plate.

Saturday we got up at the crack of dawn and left for London. First, the train ride which is always a story within itself with the characters on the train. We had to endure a harrowing dense fog ride to the train and were thrilled that we could ride instead of drive to the airport. We once again flew Ryan Air. The cheap flight. We made it to London by traveling the train, then plane, then bus and then cab to the hotel. Our cab driver took a liking to us and we planned on seeing a play. Unfortunately or fortunately, Tony the cab driver called his wife and she checked and found out that there were no play tickets left so he ended up taking us on a four hour cab ride through all the sites of London. We loved it. He would stop where he wasn’t supposed to and say get out act like you are sick and take a pictures. We did this over and over again. I got about 800 pictures. He only charged us the amount he was going to charge us to go to the play. Of course I think having my two beautiful girls with me clenched the deal of a lifetime. lol

After that we came back and Gregg and Amanda watched the game online on the slingbox in the hotel and unfortunately we lost late in the fourth what a bummer. We got up the next morning and took a cab to the Greenwich area where were staying planning on getting on the ferry but the fog was too thick to ride so we took the tube then London subway station and went to central London and got the hop on hop off bus. We went to Big Ben, Buckingham palace, the bridge and all of the sights. Amanda and Constance rode the big Ferris wheel and we took a boat ride down the Thames. A great time was had by all. The girls went back out to a pub and unfortunately for them the subway and public transportation ended at 11:00pm making them have to go through a three hour try to make it back to the hotel but they did so all well that ends well.  All I can say for London besides you do have to go there. It is expensive. Like New York on steroids.

Anyway enjoy the pictures below and I will try to be better about writing on time this next week.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Hugs from Germany

Susan

Germany Week 12 (Part 3) Rome ( nuff said)

Germany Week 12 (Part 3)  Rome  ( nuff said)

Hello all,

Friday night we came back from Austria and our 100 dollar taxi ride and because we had to leave at 6am on the train I decided not to go to sleep. So on the train to the Munich west I dozed on and off.  We flew Ryan Air to Rome.  Fabulous airline—no frills, cheap, they loaded one group off and loaded us on-- all in about 10 minutes, unbelievable.

We arrived in Rome and I have to admit we were a little shocked.  Maybe it was coming from Austria and living in Germany where everything is ultra clean and neat but Rome was shockingly dirty and unkempt.  It reminded us of New York back in the days before Giuliani cleaned it up.

Well we took a bus to the center of town and caught a cab, only 10 blocks to our hotel.  Now this is the first time, I’ve strayed away from Best Western or Holiday Inns.  I can see there is a reason to stay with the name brands.  Lol  First of all the cab driver just dropped us in front of a huge wooden door.  The kind like the one on “Romancing the Stone”  where the drug dealer asked Joan Wilder to come in and hang out.  So I couldn’t get in it but noticed a small sign that read ‘Bed and Breakfast.’  I waited for a minute and then someone came out so I saw my opening and went in. It was like the movies of Italy the tall inside buildings with the windows looking out and clothes hanging on a line.  I found a young boy who directed me to another large locked door.  I knocked and a very friendly gentleman came out.  I went back down to get Gregg and we looked at the room.  It was named “The Colossal room” with a large king size bed and they had towels shaped like a heart- see picture.  I had my doubts but the price was right and I felt safe since we had to lock and unlock three huge doors to get in and out.  Of course we had to come in during the middle of the day to take a hot shower as in the morning time there was no hot water.  But as I always say if everything goes right then there wouldn’t be a good story to tell.

We took the hop on-- hop off bus and went to all the sights.  Unfortunately they are all so big that the best pictures are from the bus see below.  Getting too close distorts the picture.  I just can’t get it all in.

It was unbelievable seeing all of the ancient ruins and the Vatican City.  It is truly just like in the movies and postcards.  We ate at a few Italian restaurants and the food was great.  I bought my souvenirs and Gregg got to watch the FSU game on sling box since our bed and breakfast had internet connections.

The Colosseum of Rome, The Pantheon, the ruins and Vatican City--I don’t think I can do Rome justice by explaining it, the pictures will have to do my talking for me.  Enjoy.

Until next week.

Hugs from Germany

Susan