Just had to share this. Came and went already but quite fantastic. The only benefit to an afternoon pour?

My new plant!

I don't usually get plants because, well, I kill them. Not on purpose, but I am just terrible at keeping them alive. I saw this one in the 'home depot-like' store, and had to have it. It's just so funky, and I've never seen anything like it. I hope I can keep it alive! Anyway, it's called Calynopsis and most of my search results have come up in German. I finally found a link about it, but I am still looking for care instructions. 

Here is the link: Calynopsis . It was apparently bred, and there seems to be nothing much else like it. I will have to dig a little deeper for care instructions. 

In the meantime, I'm a teensy bit inspired to try and grow some of my own herbs on the patio. I don't know if this is easy or not, but I use Basil a lot. Would be nice to have some fresh. Might have to wait till it's a little bit warmer. 

Anyway, here are a couple of photos I snapped of the plant this afternoon. 

Nürnberg! Again...and more!

Well we were off to Nürnberg for the afternoon again this weekend. I really do wish the train tickets were a bit cheaper. So much to see and do, and places to shop at!...well anyway, we had lunch at an American style place-which was a bit of a relief, after all of the traditional German restaurants. It was nice to be in a big, face-paced, burger place. We walked through the Easter market again, and up to the Stadtmuseum Fembohaus (City Museum Fembohaus). The museum focuses on the history of the city, as well as the history of the house itself, and its owners. 
After the museum, we headed back to the main train station to the take the S-Bahn to the Frühlingsfest (Spring festival), which was being held towards the outskirts of the city. After a couple stops on the train, we were there...and a little lost. We followed some people, and after all found the festival. The festival was similar to a state fair in the states. Rides, food, games, but with the addition of biergartens. It was definitely odd to see familiar rides and food stands with German decorations and names. We walked around, gawked at the rides we were too chicken to go on, and had some beer, and then we were on our way. Spring fest would be great if we had kids. It was good to see and check it out though. 

yes it was the crooked :)

The synagogue in Nürnberg that was, of course, destroyed. :(

\

 From town at a Flea Market 

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Our second weekend day trip was to the town of Rothenburg. It was only about 25 minutes from us, and we still have lots to see there. I look forward to heading back down -maybe in the Spring- to check out more stuff and to take some great photos. Rothenburg is a popular tourist spot because it's medieval past has been well preserved around the town.

   The tower is part of the walls that surround the city. 

A shame mask

Butcher? :)

A different shame mask

Around town

First trip to Nürnberg

Sometimes the military is cool....like...for example, having them move us to Germany. Sometimes they're not so cool...like my husband having duty shifts on the weekend. So the exploring is going to have to stay local for now. We were able to squeeze in a trip to Nürnberg last weekend, which was about 50 minutes away on the train. First, I must comment on the train system. It is pretty awesome. I could take it one stop to the base, we could take it down to Rothenburg, we could take it into Nürnberg, then up to München...etc. The trains were very nice, tickets were a bit pricey, and the train station in Nürnberg was grand.  Anyway, Nürnberg had an Easter Market taking place in the same spot as the famous Christmas markets. After a short walk from the train station, we came across the square, grabbed some lunch - currywurst -yum, and browsed the stalls. The market itself was just okay, but it was nice to see the city again. We walked up a road to the castle, and checked that out. Only a short trip because it was quite cold out, but there is so much else to do in the city - can't wait to check some more things out.

Train Station 

 

Two weeks in....

It is starting to feel like we actually live here. My apologies for the long gap, but we have not had internet up until a few days ago. So since the last post, we have moved into an apartment (gov't leased) in a town called Bad Windsheim. It is a short 10 minute drive to the base from here. The town is charming, as any proper German town is. The train station, grocery stores, shops are all within walking distance, but of course, much more accessible by car-which we finally picked up yesterday. So now that we have a car, an apartment, and all of our things (although still mostly in boxes), I suppose we can officially call this home now.

Here are a few (iPhone) pictures from around town. I'm waiting on the weather to get a little bit nicer (so far its been overcast and freezing almost every day) before I take some serious pictures.

And our apartment building. Not the most charming one out there, but it will do.

More posts to come shortly!