Germany Day 4

We flew out in the afternoon, so in the morning we decided to see a few sights in Stuttgart. Stuttgart is a major German center of technology. Two of the main companies are Mercedes Benz and Porsche. The silver car had a sticker price of $350,000, but I bet you could talk them down a couple grand.


Porsche was closed, but we snapped a few pics for Uncle Steve. They are building a brand new Porsche museum. I see a trip in Steve's future.


Bye Bye Germany, we had a great time.

Germany Day 3

On day 3 we visited another Hochdorf. It was a very quaint farming town, so we decided that it must be the correct Hochdorf.


The main focus of day 3 was the Dachau concentration camp. As you can imagine being at such a place was very powerful. It is something everyone should see in their life.

Germany Day 2

Before the family got here Dad helped me look up where our ancestors came from in Germany. It was a town called Hochdorf. Germans must not have been very inventive back in the day, because there are at least 7 Hochdorfs that I could find. Fortunately they are all in Southwest Germany around Stuttgart, so we made an effort to visit a few.


The main objective on Day 2 was to visit the Rhine river valley. D had read about it's amazing castles and quaint towns. On the way we stopped at an amazing church (it was pink!) in the village of Oppenheim. Behind the church we made an amazing discovery. There was a cavern with thousands of human bones stacked in piles. Because all the signs are in German we don't know the story.


The Rhine river valley was even more amazing than we thought. There was a new castle around every bend. We definitely plan on returning someday and maybe taking a boat cruse.

Germany Day 1

We had a great time in Stuttgart Germany.


The Christmas market was unbelievable. The booths had so many interesting items. They were so interesting that I think Janna and Mom bought half of everything ;). Just kidding. But we did get some neat souvenirs that I think will become heirlooms. More enjoyable than the shopping (at least for us guys) was the food. Kraut + sausage = heaven.


One of the reasons we went to Southwest Germany was because our ancestors came from this area. They left Germany in about 1817. On day 1 we visited a museum. It was a history of the Wurttemberg area in southwest Germany. One neat exhibit talked about how many Germans, especially farmers, left in about 1817 after a drought and an oppressive government.


After a long day there is nothing quite like polishing off some German beer with our new beer steins.

Folk are Here

The family is finally here. We are so excited to show them around our town, but first we are off to Germany for Christmas. Stay tuned.......

D hike

The last few days, I have had to work. Because I am the only driver, this kind of stuck Janna and D in town. But today my vacation finally started, so we headed out. We went on an 8 mile hike to the top of some hills (only 1350ft).



D has may skills and one of them is picture taking. We just turned the camera over to him.


At the end of the hike we toured an old Abbey. Just like everything else around here it was old, yet cool.

D

Sorry for the late update. Things have been really boring lately until a few days ago. Then a whirl wind hit. D came and we have been out and about.







One of the funner things we did was go to a pub where they played traditional Scottish music. The beer was so dang good, that we may have drank a few too many. With the music in the back ground, it was a great night.

Nothing Major

Sorry for not posting in a while. Our grand adventures have been put on hold for a while. Janna has been working long hours to finish up the semester. I can hardly believe a semester has passed. By next Friday she will have finished two major tests and five papers.

Nonetheless we have gotten out a bit. The city center has gotten very festive. A skating rink and carnival rides have been set up in Princes Street Gardens and a German Christmas market appeared near the art Museum. Janna orginized an outing with some of her classmates to the lighting of the tree and the opening of the Christmas festivities. We also went out one evening with a German classmate of Janna's to the German market. Christmas markets are a big deal in Germany. So big that they don't have room for them all and many of the booth owners come to other contries like Scotland. It was very neat to hear about the German Christmas traditions right from a German. This really whetted our appetite for our trip to Germany with the folks, where we will see German Christmas markets in Germany.



Otherwise we have just taken random walks around town and up into the craigs (hills on the edge of town).



When we get homesick we are able to visit a little slice of America. Yes Edinburgh has a Costco. When I walk in the door I feel at home, they even have American hot dogs. It is great.



We are looking forward to our family getting here. Next week we will be traveling to Cambridge for a day to attend my company's Christmas party. When we return D will be hear to visit and the folks will come a few days later. We can't wait to see the family and show them around our town.