Heidelberg in Lights & Winzerfest Parade

Beautiful Heidelberg at Night

Last evening we visited Heidelberg for a lovely dinner and firework show. Only about 25 minutes away from our house, Heidelberg is famous for it's beautiful castle and international crowds. Set on the bank of the Neckar River, Heidelberg is the idealistic German town that we love to visit over and over again. With what is said to be the longest pedestrian shopping street in Germany, and maybe Europe, Heidelberg has so much to offer. And last night, after enjoying a lovely dinner of maultaschen with mushroom sauce (it was delicious!) at Perkeo on the pedestrian strip, we ventured across the river to stake a spot for the "Castle Illumination" and firework show. Three times each summer, the Heidelberg Castle is "lit on fire" to commemorate the burning of the castle by the French in 1693. We waited about 1.5 hours for the show to start, and enjoyed watching the boats glide down the river and park with their hundreds of spectators aboard. At 10:15 after all street lights went dark, the show started. The castle really did look like it was on fire, and it was beautiful in an eerie way. After the "fake fire" died away, a firework show began. It was a lovely and well-spent evening in one of our favorite towns.

The moon rising over the hills of Heidelberg

Derek with the rising moon over the Neckar River

Heidelberg at Night

The tourist boats lined up in the river. They were packed with people!

The Heidelberg Castle "on fire"

Firework Show

Firework Show

Firework Show

Today we rode our bikes a few kilometers south to Bensheim, the larger town close to Zwingenberg. This weekend marked the beginning of the Bensheim Winzerfest, a week-long wine fest, and we had a front row view of the kick-off parade. In Germany, it is very common to be involved in clubs outside of school. In fact, many high schools do not even offer sports and clubs within the school. People of all ages join community clubs, whether it be handball, fencing, band, etc. At today's parade, all of the clubs plus many regional wine makers were represented, along with a variety of Tracht (traditional dress). Derek and I watched the parade for about two hours and then made our way to the market center for a glass of wine and a snack. The town center was transformed into a vine village, complete with castle walls at each entrance. Winemakers even used the fountains as service bars. Here's just a few photos I snapped today.

Every town seems to have a wine queen. Here, she adorns the back of a barrel.

Float at the parade

One of the many marching bands

So creative with the Maypole!

A multi-use fountain!

At the entrance to the wine fest

Wine and pommes!

                            

Life in Germany: What have we been up to?

View of Lindenfels Castle

The last two weeks have been crazy but in a wonderfully busy kind of way. We have no major weekend trips planned for the month of August and didn't take any major trips the second half of July, but we are definitely still finding ways to stay busy. We're about half way through our time in Germany and I think I am finally at the point of feeling like this is home. We were driving on the autobahn last weekend and I found myself saying to Derek, "This just feels so normal!"  I sometimes think that January is too soon to return home.

Here's what we've been up to lately:

Planning Trips. In mid September, we will meet my parents in London for one night, followed by a two night stay at the Harlaxton Manor in central England. Then we will spend a few days here in Zwingenberg before exploring Munich and the Austrian Alps via Salzburg.  When I drop off my parents at the Frankfurt airport the following week, I'll be venturing to Amsterdam where I'll meet up with two of my high school friends- and I am so excited! We'll spend the next few days in Zwingenberg and then trek to Munich for the famous Oktoberfest. In fact, Derek and I recently bought our Oktoberfest outfits. I think we should win every Halloween contest for the next few years!

My Dirndl and Derek's Lederhosen

Picnic in the Vineyards. We are trying to do something different once a week than just cooking dinner in the house. So last week we had a picnic in the nearby vineyards. It was a lovely evening to sit and watch the sunset over the countryside. When we arrived to Germany last winter, the vines were merely brown branches. Today they are growing luscious grapes that will be turned to wine in the next year! I love watching the grapes get larger and seeing how the fruit changes weekly.

Picnic in the vineyards!

It'll never get old!

They get larger every week

Festivals and more Festivals! Two weeks ago we spent a weekend in Oberstenfeld where we had a wonderful cookout and attended the Beilstein wine fest on both nights. The festival was held at the base of the Beilstein castle. We tried several different local wines and had, as always, a wonderful time with our German family. Last weekend, Derek and I drove to Erbach for the Erbacher Weissenfest (wheat fest). It was a carnival sort of festival - we found a bier garten and enjoyed a local brew while listening to a German country singer. I got pretty excited when I heard Keith Urban singing through the dj's speakers.

Marius, Caroline, Me and Derek at the wine fest. I missed the "funny face" memo

I am a teacher. Yes, that's right! I am freelancing with an international company and providing English lessons for adults. I have three classes of about 12 students each. For one day a week, I will create lesson plans and try my best to share my knowledge of the English language. I know this is going to be a huge challenge, but one I couldn't pass up. More to come on this soon.

Batman in Mannheim. After the tragic events in Colorado, I was hesitant to go watch the movie in the theatre. But we did, and it was a great movie! There is a cinema in a large city about 30 minutes away that shows English versions of films on Wednesday nights. We headed to Mannheim straight after work and had dinner before watching the movie. Often times I do not know for certain what I am ordering- but I at least recognize some words. This time, I went for the cheapest and very first item on the menu. I ordered Bauernsalze. I was SO disappointed when the waiter brought it to our table. I had literally just seen this in the grocery store two days prior and vowed I would never eat it. But I hadn't remembered the name. It was a meat mixture in a jello-y kind of substance. I like to try everything once, so I did try it. But that was all! 

Hemsbach Fest. On Friday night we took a 15 minute train to the town of Hemsbach for their Kerwe festival. I am told that every town has one - whether a tiny village or a huge city. We enjoyed watching the opening ceremonies - where Hemsbachers were dressed in traditional clothing and drinking beer from a large keg - and found a tent to enjoy some snacks and live music.

Anne, Nadine and I

A night in Lindenfels. On Saturday night we were invited to spend the evening in Lindenfels at one of my friend's houses, Nadine, along with our other friend Anne, and our men. I hang out with both of them at DFSR and they were so kind to treat Derek and I to dinner as a wedding present. And it was such a lovely night! Lindenfels is in the Odenwald, near Derek's work in Reichelsheim, and is surrounded by beautiful countryside. We started the evening by walking about 45 minutes from one little town to another. After a break for some apfelwein at a not-so-ancient tower, we found our way to a little Odenwald pub where Nadine had reserved a table. We all ordered the traditional Schnitzel mit Kochkäse and enjoyed a lively dinner. We then headed to the Lindenfels castle - a beautiful castle perched on a hill- and enjoyed a late night of fest fun within the castle walls.

View from Nadine's holiday house!

Schnitzel with Kochkäse (cheese sauce)

Simba wanted to say hi!

Other thoughts:

• We've been watching the Olympics and even though all commentary is German and we don't understand much, it's nice evening entertainment!
• We started a 10 euro per/month video program similar to Netflix. We put the DVD in the mail one day, and the next day we have a new video! German post is speedy.
• I killed the largest spider of my life last week. With bug spray in one hand and the vacuum cleaner in the other, I won.
• The weather has been very strange lately. but I like it. Today it felt like fall and yesterday like summer. 
• That's all for now, but I'll be back soon.

Festivals, Friends and Food: Abby's in Town!

At the European Cup viewing

It's been quite the busy two weeks since Abby, my twin sister, arrived back on June 18. For only two weeks, I'd say we have been able to explore, taste and see quite a bit. It's wonderful having my sister in town, but I know it's for only a limited time, so we have to live it up! Here's a recap of our last two weeks:

When Abby arrived at the Frankfurt airport, I was waiting for her at the gate and we began the short journey by bus and train back to our little town of Zwingenberg. We enjoyed our first dinner of grilled bratwursts, sautéed vegetables and kartoffelsalat (potato salad). This was also Derek's first day back to work after the two week hiatus of getting married and traveling to Sicily. When he arrived home, we had a special gift to open from his colleagues at Freudenberg. It was a money cake built by a colleague that Derek works closely with and the entire office had pitched in for the gift. It was so, so sweet of them!

Opening the money cake

Such a sweet gift from Derek's company

Abby and Derek enjoying a lovely German meal

The rest of the week, Abby and I explored the Odenwald Nature Park by hiking to a nearby castle - the Alsbacher Schloss, had a picnic lunch in the park, walked the vineyards, tried some delicious pastries from the local bakery and cooked up some more feasts of schnitzel, mashed potatoes, etc. On Wednesday evening, we hopped in the car after Derek arrived home from work and headed to the Hockenheimring, a Formula One race track about 45 minutes from our house. We picked up our friends Philip and Eva on the way and proceeded into a crowd of about 16,000 people for a "company race". Derek was running a 3k race with his Freudenberg team. He did not know much about the race until we got there, so we were very surprised to see SO many people! There was a live band, beer stands and lots of food choices for the festival after the race. It was great to meet some of his colleagues and a good first night out with Abby!

Philip, Eva, Courtney, Abby and Derek at the race

Derek is out there somewhere

Abby at the Alsbacher Schloss

 On Thursday, we boarded the train and headed to the nearby university town of Heidelberg. We idled through the cobbled streets, explored the small side roads and enjoyed some green time before heading back home. On Friday, the Euro Cup quarter finals took place. We joined up with some friends again and headed to the small Odenwald town of Morlenbach. Not sure what to expect for a "public viewing" of the game (Germany vs. Greece), I packed some chips, wine and a blanket. Since it was standing room only, we didn't need the picnic. There were so many people crammed into the quaint town marketplatz, all trying to get a view of the big screen that showcased the game. Germans love, love soccer, so it was incredible to be with the entire town when they won! This was much better than watching the game from our small TV in the flat. We celebrated in the streets after the win and made it back to a friend's house for some late night Irish dancing. 

In beautiful Heidelberg

Dinner on the porch

Heidelberg

The Morlenbach marketplatz filled with fans

With friends at the game

German ears on our car

On Saturday, we drove the 1.3 hours to Oberstenfeld to meet up with our German family for a Fleckenfest (small town festival). We enjoyed some kaffee und kuchen (coffee and cake) before heading to the fest where we tried some rostbraten mit zwiebels, a delicious and popular meal of steak with onions and spätzle noodles. On Sunday, we walked to a nearby castle but it was closed to visitors that day. We showed the family some of our wedding photos and even opened a gift of our very own  spätzle maker and German cookbook! I was more than excited to try out the gift. I have made spätzle  with the Müllers a few times now and now I get to make it anytime I want!  And I did test it... on Monday we cooked Käse-Spätzle, a German version of macaroni and cheese. It turned out alright. I'll use a different cheese next time. I'll put the recipe in the soon-to-be recipe section on this blog.

Derek and Günter in Oberstenfeld

Marius and Derek at the Oberstenfeld fest

Our first German beer mugs!

Visiting a castle in Oberstenfeld

Opening the Spätzle maker

Making Spätzle noodles (it's made from flour, eggs and salt)

Spätzle mit Käse with fried onions on top!

On Tuesday we took off for a new adventure and headed to Munich for two nights. I'll tell that story in a following post. After Munich, we watched the semi-finals of the Euro Cup at a restaurant in Heppenheim, and sadly, Germany lost. On Friday night, we had a cookout at our house- one of my favorite things to do! We made hamburgers, taco dip (a German variation, but it was good), pasta salad, rice krispie treats and Abby's specialty, peanut butter pie. We had a wonderful time on our back porch eating, talking and drinking great wine. This weekend we visited another castle, the Auerbacher Schloss, the small town of Lorsch, went to a extremely large and fall festival-resembling carnival in Darmstadt, and today we are going to the Heppenheim wine fest.  To say the least, it has been a great two weeks back in Germany and a wonderful time with Abby! Next up this week: The Berner Oberland in the Swiss Alps.

Cookout on the porch

Abby and I at the Auerbach Schloss 

Derek's inner child