Our first Halloween in Germany...

Germans don't typically celebrate Halloween but in certain areas, like ours, Americans have lived her for so many years that some Germans have joined our tradition of trick or treating. 

Here are the boys pumpkins. 

Jason wanted Lego men on his pumpkin and Josef did 3 different faces. 

Here are the boys in their costumes

We went to a Halloween Party a couple weekends ago and I was a Zombie. 

The many differences...

Here are some differences between the US and Germany

When you go to the gas station, hardware store, or convenient store you can buy mini liquor bottles

 

Obviously they don't have open container laws and It is legal for passengers to have a roadie! 

Don't worry about going down stairs with a stroller or wheel chair, they've got you covered!

If you have bad eyes, they have you covered at the grocery store. 

Most villages have these lovely cigarette vending machines outside in the neighborhood.

Not all of the locks and keys look like this but all the ones at school are like this

Light switches 

Outlets and plugs

 

Ludwigsburg pumpkin festival...

Saturday we ventured by train to Ludwigsburg for the worlds largest pumpkin festival that takes place at the Ludwigsburg Palace. 

The train station near our village

The boys first train ride

A cool sculpture on the way to the palace

The front of Ludwigsburg Palace

Pumpkin races. They carve out the inside of huge pumpkins and then get inside and  paddle around the pond.

Cool pumpkin sculptures and carvings. 

The rear of the palace

The palace gardens

A sculpture we saw on our way back to the train station. 

The Germans are not as uptight as Americans in regards to nudity. We walked past a photography studio that had a mixture of pictures. Everything from children to scenery to nudes.  

A cool street in Ludwigsburg. 

Our visit to Regensburg...

Regensburg is an extremely old city that is about 30 minutes away from us. The first settlements in Regensburg date to the stone age.

First on our list to see was Valhalla:

Valhalla was built between 1830 & 1842. It is a memorial that houses busts of important and significant people throughout German history. It is located on the Danube river. Some of my favorite busts were Dr. Martin Luther, Mozart, and Beethoven.

After Valhalla, we visited Castra Regina. Castra Regina was a Roman fort built in 179 for Legio III.

Next we traveled closer to the center of the city. Our first stop was a little Italian cafe for a late lunch. It was weird being an American in an Italian restaurant in Germany. The food was great and the atmosphere was even better. It was a little chilly that day so all of the cafes around town had blankets placed outside for anyone who preferred to eat outside.

After lunch we walked to the "Dom" or St. Peter's Cathedral
The first church was originally built around the 700s. The cathedral was rebuilt and expanded in the early 11th century.  It is said to be the second oldest church in Germany.
My pictures don't do it justice!

We continued our walk to the old stone bridge. The stone bridge was built in 1135-1146 and crosses the Danube.

The center of the city was amazing. It had all these narrow curvy roads/alleys with cafes and stores lining either side. It was just really cool being there and I can't wait to go back!

A good walk away from the city center is an "arcade" or a mall. We didn't go to it but we will be visiting it soon! The only recognizable store was H&M, I can't wait to check out all the German clothing stores.

As I stood in the middle of town, I truly felt like I was dreaming.

What's different in Germany...

One of the funny differences between the US and Germany is the toilets. The toilets here hang on the wall and all the plumbing is inside the wall.

Perks, it is easier to wash the bathroom floors, you don't have those annoying caps over the screws that hold the toilet to the floor, you just have the bottom of the toilet bowl to clean not the pedestal, and you don't have to deal with condensation on the tank.

Downside, I'm guessing there is a weight limit? 

The flushers are also quite different. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to flush when I first got here. Here is a picture of a typical flusher. 

The rectangle with the two circles is the flusher. The Germans are very environmentally conscience and like to conserve water so the big circle is for a number 2 and uses more water, while the the smaller circle is for a number 1 and uses less water. 

If your out in public and have to use the bathroom, you better have 50¢ or a Euro on you cause you have to pay to pee in most places in Germany. 

Here is a German porta potty:

There is even a little sink inside to wash your hands. But the best part is that when your done, it closes itself back up automatically and it cleans itself. I was grossed out when I got inside because everything was wet but then we figure out after I got out that it completely santitizes itself between each use. Yes it is extremely close to the road. 

I don't mind paying for a clean porta potty!

I promise to never blog about toilets again!

We are back on the grid!!!

A bunch has happened since we went off the grid...

We moved into our house on October 2nd, with minimal loaner furniture until our things get here. It's a bit empty but it's better then living in a hotel, minus the whole no internet part. Hope to get our things by Nov 11th. Fingers crossed!

Having pizza at the house the night before we moved in.

William arrived on the 3rd, yeah!!! The boys and I were extremely excited to see him. Our family is a whole again! We took a trip to Grafenwohr, where William's Dad was stationed when William was 10 to13. 

We went to the park where he used to play. The geese look a little different here and the swans are black. I was told that Australia is the only place that has black swans and its illegal to take them out of Australia so we aren't sure how this one got here.

This is the center of Graf.

William used to ride his bike down this trail.

We stopped at a little bar in the center of town for a beer and met a super cool bartender named Costa. He is from Greece and had the best philosophies and stories. He feels that Americans put too many restrictions and rules on their everyday lives and that we should just go with the flow and do what makes us happy. He also thinks that American's work their lives away, we put too much focus on material things and out doing each other rather then sitting back and enjoying life. 

Some of what he said made me think of my family and how we can "waste" a day away just sitting on the front porch or by the pool having drinks and just enjoying each other and the day, rather then worrying about what needs to get done. That's living!

Even the boys got to sit at the bar and have a Coke from a glass bottle. The barmaid gave them candy and the tiniest little peanuts.  

Then we had dinner at a wonderful little Greek restaurant a few doors down that William remembers going to when he was a kid. 

We've been here for just over a month and I still feel like I'm dreaming!
It has been a wonderful journey so far and we look forward to all that is yet to come!