We're back from South Africa... plus Happy 4th of July!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to write a quick post to say that we are back from South Africa, and we had the most amazing time! We were down there for the two weeks, and while we were there we attended four World Cup games and visited with friends that live in Pretoria as well as friends that were also traveling in Johannesburg. Then it was off to the eastern part of the country for a safari near Kruger National Park... between the animals, the setting, and the food, the safari might just be the neatest thing we have ever done. For the last (but definitely not least) part of our trip, we headed to Cape Town to check out that area, and it was absolutely gorgeous! Like I said, we had such a fantastic trip, and we are incredibly grateful that we had such an awesome opportunity! Our entire adventure was very well documented... between the two cameras we brought with us, we took nearly 3000 photos! Needless to say, it will probably take quite a while to go through all of them and pick out the best ones to share... I think I will even have to break it up a few different posts since it was such a massive trip!

As we get back into the grind here, I don't think I will get too much blogging in before the upcoming holiday weekend, so I just want to wish you all a great Fourth of July! Though we may not get to spend Independence Day back in the good ole US of A, we are so thankful to be Americans and we will be celebrating from this side of the Atlantic! I promise to get a post up about our South Africa trip soon, but until then, have a safe and happy holiday!

Let's rewind all the way back to last autumn...

I know it seems like quite a long time ago now, but would you mind rewinding with me back to last autumn? The reason being is because I still haven't blogged yet about two very fun events that happened during the fall... Oktoberfest and the USMC Birthday Ball in Luxembourg!

While most of the fall I was very busy coaching soccer, I had a weeklong break at the start of October... just like spring break, most international schools also have a fall break. It is a pretty sweet deal :) Since it would be my first weekend off since the beginning of soccer season, we decided to head down to Munich to experience the ultimate in German festivals... Oktoberfest!

We drove down to the capital of Bavaria with our friends, Mick and Jen, on Friday, October 2nd. On the way, we stopped at this shopping outlet mall because we were hoping to find the guys lederhosen to wear since we were told that everyone wears them at Oktoberfest. Well, we didn't find any lederhosen because this outlet mall looked like it came straight out of California! It was quite strange to see something like that in Germany... totally unexpected and pretty random. Soon we were back on the road, and that evening we stayed in Garmisch, Germany, at the same place we stayed back in April.

Since Garmisch is over an hour away from Munich, we jumped on the train on Saturday morning... but first we enjoyed the beauty of the Bavarian Alps right outside our hotel. While Jen and I were all dressed up in our dirndls (that is, a traditional German dress), the guys were just planning to look for lederhosen once we got into the city. Lo and behold, just across the street from the train station, they found a shop selling them. Before long, the four of us were all wearing our Bavarian duds and walking the few blocks down to Theresienwiese, a huge fairground that covers 4.5 million square feet where Oktoberfest is held every year. At first, it just looks like a very large carnival, with rides and food vendors everywhere. Then you start to notice the huge beer "tents"... they might be called tents but really they're massive temporary buildings, each serving a different type of beer.

Since it was still early in the day, we were able to get a table at the Spatenbrau tent without a reservation. Even though it was only 10:30am, the place was already packed with people drinking beer... that's Germany for ya :)

Shortly after we got to our seats, we ordered our first round of drinks... ridiculously large 1 liter beers. Well, I actually got a radler, which is half lemonade, half beer, since I don't really like beer... even still, as you can see below, it was a lot to handle! We also ordered some food, including huge pretzels that are considered traditional Oktoberfest fare. Yum! Then, we just sat back, listening to the oompah band and taking in the whole atmosphere. After hanging out for about 2 hours, we had to give up our table. Before leaving the Spaten tent, I went up to the top level to get one more pic.

By this point in the day, it was only a little after noon, so we decided to slow it down a bit and enjoy some fresh air for a while. We walked around the fairgrounds and ended up at its western side, where there is a huge statue that is said to symbolize the State of Bavaria. Along with hundreds of other revelers, we relaxed on the hillside, soaking in the sunshine and resting up a bit. From that spot, we could watch the hordes making their way around the festival. Ya know, they say Oktoberfest is the world's largest fair in the world, with about 6 million people attending every year. Now that is a lot of people! Following our little break, we started looking for our next hang-out of the day, while also taking some photos along the way.

We soon found ourselves at the patio of the Nymphenburg Sekt tent. It had a fun, festive ambience so we stayed there most of the afternoon actually. While there, we met a very nice couple from Berkeley, Nick and Laurel, and we really enjoyed talking with them... that's them in the picture below... plus some random guy who jumped in the photo at the last second! We also enjoyed some more traditional Oktoberfest food... a half chicken with potato salad. It was finger lickin' good! The whole afternoon was a very good time.

As evening was setting in, Daniel got a call from his friend, Mike, who was also at Oktoberfest. In fact, Mike had a table inside the Lowenbrau tent just across from where we were, and he wanted us to come join him. Well, if you remember, earlier I mentioned that you really need reservations to get inside the tents during Oktoberfest, especially at night and very much so during the very last weekend of the festival. We walked from door to door trying to get in, but at each there was a very large security guard. We thought that we'd just have to call it a night when Mike poked his head out and called us to come in... we waded through the crowd surrounding the door, and the security guard literally grabbed us by our clothes and pulled us inside. Only then did we find out that Mike had actually bribed the guard to get us in... craziness! Oh, and right away I noticed that Daniel and Mike were matching, so I just had to get a photo. They looked like twins... well, sorta :)

Once we headed into the tent, we saw that the party was already in full swing! The oompah band was playing like mad, and hundreds and hundreds of exuberant beer drinkers were standing on benches singing and dancing! The scene was a bit overwhelming, but it was a lot of fun. The music they were playing actually made laughed... over 90% of the songs were American, and all the Germans were singing them at the top of their lungs. I am not sure why, but they especially love John Denver's "Country Roads"... but at least they also played "99 Luft Balloons" too :) By the time 10pm rolled around, the four of us were pretty tired, so we decided to was time to say "Auf Wiedersehen" to Oktoberfest and head back to the train station. It had been a very fun-filled day and we can say that we survived 12 straight hours of the world's largest beer festival!

On Sunday morning, before heading back to Frankfurt, we took a stroll through quaint Garmisch. It was a peaceful and welcomed contrast to the festivities of the day before. Soon we were back on the road towards home, quite happy that we had just experienced the quintessential German festival.

Alright, now fast forward to mid-November... on Saturday, November 14th, shortly after coaching my last soccer game of the season, Daniel and I were on the road with our friends, Jan and Jim C. and Shawn, to attend the USMC Birthday Ball in Luxembourg. Needless to say, we were looking forward to it. I know I was... a girl is excited any time she has a chance to get all dolled up and put a pretty dress on!

Of course, we had a very enjoyable time that night... drinks, dinner, dancing. What could be better? :)

Following a fun night of celebrating, we were back on the road to Frankfurt the next morning... it was a short but sweet trip to Luxembourg. Well, thanks so much for rewinding with me all the way back to last autumn. And believe it or not, I am finally caught up on the blogging... and it's a good thing too because we are just about to leave for South Africa! I am sure our trip down there will give me plenty to post about so please come back soon to read all about it. Until then, I hope you are enjoying your summer :)

Rothenburg & Rudesheim... Two adorable German towns!

In the past couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to check out some adorable German towns located not far from Frankfurt. On May 29th, the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, Daniel and I made a day trip over to Rothenburg, a charming village surrounded by a medieval wall. Then, last Friday, June 4th, I had a day off from school, so I joined my friend, Stephanie, and her family to revisit Rudesheim. Daniel and I had been there last July with his sister and her husband, but it was such a cute little town, I was happy to go back again, and this time the weather was quite a bit nicer... but before I go on about Rudesheim, let me share more about Rothenburg.

The famed "Romantic Road" of Germany connects Frankfurt and Munich, and Rothenburg is largely considered to be its highlight. Since moving here, I've heard over and over what a neat place it is, so it has been on our must-visit list for quite some time. Thankfully, having a long weekend over Memorial Day provided us a good opportunity to make the two hour drive down there. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by a very imposing gate leading into the city called the Galgentor. While I whipped out the camera, Daniel went up into the tower for a photo opp :) Once we made our way through the gate, we climbed the stairs to check out the wall more closely, and we walked a bit around its perimeter. Then we headed into the town center, passing another gate-like structure, the White Tower.

Soon we found ourselves in the Market Square. Here you'll find the Town Hall and the Councilor's Tavern, which is where the city council used to imbibe back in the day. As we continued to wander around, we breezed by St. Jakob's Church... we took a quick peek inside and it was actually quite modern, so then we decided to go get some lunch.

Though I am not a huge fan of German food, every once in a while it definitely hits the spot, so I had some cheesy German noodles called spaetzle and Daniel had the wiener schnitzel, which is actually breaded pork, not a hot dog :) After lunch, we checked out a few shops including the Christmas wonderland that is the Kathe Wohlfarht store. I wasn't actually supposed to take any pictures inside, but their huge tree was just too pretty so I snuck one anyway! Daniel had some fun posing with the giant nutcracker outside too.

Once we took in our fill of Christmas decor, we strolled along the cobblestones streets toward the Castle Garden at the far end of town. Up until the 14th century, a castle dominated this section of Rothenburg, but now it is a lovely park with some great views looking back toward the rest of town and the surrounding hills. On the other side of the garden, you can look down and see the "Toppler Castle," a funny little home on a rather high foundation.

After spending a while in the Castle Garden, we ambled back into town and decided to climb one of the wall's towers, the Rodertor, which means "Rooster Tower". With the late afternoon sun beaming by the time we got to the top, we got some great shots of the town, its walls, and the countryside below.

When we returned back to ground level, we strolled around a bit more and then stopped for some apple strudel and ice cream before getting back on the road towards Frankfurt... it was a yummy end to a very pleasant day. We both really enjoyed Rothenburg and were glad we finally made the effort to see it.

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, in addition to Rothenburg, I've also visited another quaint German town recently, Rudesheim, which is found right along the Rhine River. My friend, Stephanie, had family and friends visiting, so I joined their whole group to check out this area on June 4th.

Since it was such a beautiful day, we started our visit with a ferry ride up the river. We set off from Rudesheim and soon glided past the Niederwald monument surrounded by the vineyards that make the Rhine River valley famous. During the boat trip, while soaking up the sunshine we passed several castles and quaint towns, including the Mauseterm, the Ehrenfels ruins, and the town of Assmannshausen, the Rheinstein and Reichenstein Castles, and the town of Trechtingshausen. Of course, I had to get a picture with Stephanie too :)

The leisurely two-hour ferry ride was a great way to appreciate the Rhine River and to spend a gorgeous afternoon. After debarking the boat, we quickly found a place for lunch so we could refuel before taking in Rudesheim. Strolling around this cute town is quite enjoyable... it boasts many restaurants and shops plus its most renowned street, the Drosselgasse. At the edge of town is a pretty little vineyard graced by rose bushes too. All in all, it was a very nice day visiting one of Germany's gems.

I am going to try to keep up the momentum and get another blog post up very soon... next time I will be rewinding all the way back to last October! Please come back soon to check it out... until then, take care!