It's official - the gloomiest German winter on record!

As we sit here in the house today while the snow coninues to come down outside, I came across the following statement found in a German weather article that a friend of mine posted on Facebook:

It might seem as if Germany has been stuck under a cold, dark, damp blanket for the last few months and now weathermen are confirming this, as the winter is set to be the darkest since records of sunshine hours began over 60 years ago.  The sun was such a stranger in Germany in January that it was the darkest ever since records began, with just 55 percent of the usual amount of sunshine for the month. 

The picture below could have been taken on any day over the past three months.

Oh, how I would love to be on a Florida beach right now!!!  I pray Virginia has more sunshine than Germany!

Girl Scout Thinking Day

Today was the annual Girl Scout Thinking Day.  For this event, each girl scout troop selected a country and then set up a table with all sorts of information, food, etc related to that specific country.  Then all the girls went around to each table, had their "passports" stamped, and learned something about each country represented.  Taryn's Daisy troop set up a table that told about Ireland and Leena's Brownie troop taught everyone a little something about Barbados.  It was a great and educational morning!

Taryn's Daisy troop opened the event with an Irish song.

Taryn and fellow Daisy, Kaylee, stop and learn about Malawi, Africa.

Taryn and Kaylee learn about Australia.

Taryn and Kaylee stop at Leena's Brownie troop table to learn about Barbados.

Leena learns about the country, Jordan.

Leena has her name written in Arabic.  Cool!

Leena visits the UAE table. 

Taryn and Nicole have a little fun with the giraffe hand puppet door prize that they both won.

Taryn's Daisy troop (Kaylee, Taryn, Ava and Megan) in front of their Ireland table.

Taryn and Kaylee pose with their insanely creative troop leader, Julie.

A close-up of their Ireland board.  Awesome!!

Leena and her troop with leaders Ami and Amy pose with their Barbados table.

Chili cook-off!

Tonight we participated in a chili cook-off put on by the PTA.  We had our competition cut out for us!  There were 13 participants.  We were required to give our chili a name and the girls decided on Rainbow Chili since it was so colorful (and since they like rainbows!).  It was filled with black beans, red beans, corn, tomatoes and red peppers.  There wasn't much of a turnout, but we had a great time anyway hanging out with those who participated.  Unfortunately, we did not win.  But on the bright side, we got a couple new chili recipes out of it! 

Let the competition begin!  Vote for chili #3!!

The judges table.  They had to twist Greg's arm to be a judge... NOT!  You would think with an insider in the judging ranks that we would win!!

Leena and Taryn teamed up with a few friends to play some Family Feud.  None of the kids had ever heard of this game before.  I used to watch it all the time!

Their team name was "Chili Peppers".

All of the chili chefs pose with their participation certificates.

Riding in Style

As our time in Germany is nearing the end, I have started to reflect on the things that I will miss.  Turns out, I'm not the only one doing this.  Just the other day, Leena stated that she "sure will  miss bratwurst when we leave Germany".  I will probably create an entire post on this very topic later.  But in case I don't, I know one thing the girls will certainly miss.... riding to school in style!  They don't even realize how good they've got it.  The school buses for the American schools in Germany are contracted through a German company.  So, no yellow, uncomfortable, old school buses over here!  It's been first class service all the way... captain chairs, reclining seats, seat belts, fold-down trays, etc.  The girls are in for a shock when they have to take the bus to school next year!

Taryn and Leena get dropped off.

Nürnberg (aka Nuremberg)

Greg coaches and the girls play with an American soccer group that meets twice a month.  It's really a way for the kids to expand on their skills.  Occasionally, the kids will play in a soccer tournament and we attended our first tournament on Saturday.  The tournament was held just outside Nuremberg, so we decided to spend the day at the soccer tournament on Saturday and then visit Nuremberg on Sunday.  Nuremberg is famous for it's Christmas Market which is the largest in Germany.  We did not attend the Christmas market because we heard that it was miserably crowded.  So, this tournament gave us the opportunity to check out another great German city without the crowds. 

Our kids actually did not have enough interest to field a U9 and a U11 team, so they combined the two ages groups together and they played against other U11 teams.  Our team had four kids under the age of 9 and three kids under the age of 11, so we were technically "playing up". Despite the age/experience disadvantage, our team came in 4th place out of 10 teams! Way to go!!

Greg warms up the team before the tournament begins.

Tournament action! 

After the tournament, we decided to go into Nuremberg for dinner.  After we parked the car, we went in search of the restaurant.  We rounded the first corner and ran into this site....

It amazes me how a church like this is practically a dime a dozen over here!

Leena on the streets of Nuremberg.

This great restaurant, Bratwursthausle, came highly recommended in our Rick Steves book.  It did not disappoint!  It had a great open grill in the middle of the restaurant.  While waiting on our food, we enjoyed hot brezels and brotchen (pretzels and bread rolls).  I will really miss these yummy, hot brezels when we leave!

We ordered the house special which are these mini-bratwurst called Nürnbergers.  They came with a side of potato salad (the best I've had in Germany!).  The bratwurst was also the best I've had so far!  YUMMY!

The next morning, we went back into Nuremberg to check it out.  Here is St. Sebald which is the same church we ran into the night before. 

Greg and the girls in front of the Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain).

In the Market Square (Hauptmarkt) which is the main square in the city.  The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) is behind them.

A close-up shot of the front of the Frauenkirche.  This is Charles IV, the most powerful man in Europe at his time.  He oversees the square.  At noon, his electors dance around him.

This interesting monument is called "The Ship of Fools" and depicts characters from a 15th century satire.

The river-spanning building behind us is the Holy Ghost Hospital.

The girls in front of St. Lawrence Church.  It was never a cathedral because Nuremberg never had a bishop (something new we learned on this trip).

Taryn looks through a window in the door to a restaurant.  Yes, these are the actual (and only) doors to the restaurant which is located in the basement.  Watch your head!  We would have eaten there, but it was closed today. 

Frauentor - this tower guards one of the four medieval entrances to Nuremberg's Old Town.  90% of Nuremberg's medieval wall still remains.

View of the interior side of the wall.

Yes, you can park a Smart Car anywhere!

This is a common site in Germany.... sodas kept in a refrigerator.  This is very misleading because the refrigerator is not actually turned on.  Hot beverages await inside.  Yuck.

Before the medieval wall was built, residents had to defend their own homes.  This home had a built-in watch tower at the top.  This is the only remaining tower house in Nuremberg (built in 1200).

Standing over the Pegnitz River.

Another Pegnitz River shot.

The girls take in the view.

There is a ring on the gate that surrounds the Beautiful Fountain.  It is said that if you turn the ring 3 times, it will bring you good luck.  Here Leena's gives it a twirl!

Now Taryn's turn!

Approaching the Imperial Castle (Kaiserburg).

Playing around outside the castle.

On the castle grounds.

View of Nuremberg from the castle grounds.

On a bridge that takes you over where the moat used to be.

View from the castle down to where the moat used to be.  Across the street (outside the medieval walls) you can see a more modern-looking Nuremberg.

Looking for a place to have lunch.

In one of the squares, we found this rabbit that looks like roadkill with mice gnawing at it.  In actuality it's a modern interpretation of one of the best-known paintings by medieval Nuremberg artist Albrecht Durer, The Hare.  Gross!

Just walking around.

Just inside the wall.  Here comes Taryn!!

Where's that restaurant!?!

We finally found another great place to have a late lunch.  On the way out of town, we drove by a few of Nuremberg's famous sites.

This is the Nuremberg Trials Courtroom.  This is where 21 Nazi war criminals stood trial before an international tribunal.

Home of Germany's first railway which was built in 1835.

The Nazi Documentation Center.  This museum tells about Nuremberg's role in the Nazi movement.

At this point, the girls were tired and not interested in seeing any Nazi sites.  While the girls and I waited in the car, Greg walked through the Rally Grounds which occupy four square miles behind the museum.  He walked over the Zeppelin Field which was the site of the Nazi's biggest rallies.  Greg actually climbed up on the grandstand and stood where Hitler once stood while speaking to 250,000 people.