Hallo, Germany! Where's the sun?

January is almost over and I am happy to report that our family has been here for almost five months! Wow, that was fast. In December, we received a lot of snow with the rest of Europe. Now that it is almost February, the weather has been unusually Spring-like. The December snow is long gone, causing many of the rivers to swell and flood. We have had many days in the 40s (Fahrenheit), but the sun is hiding. Since late November, the days have been dark and cloudy. The picture of my husband (above) was taken a couple weeks ago at around 2:30 in the afternoon - we considered that a sunny day! We just try to stay as active as we can despite the overwhelming feeling like we should take a nap. I try to remind myself that at home (South Dakota) it is in sub-zero temperatures with lots of snow on the ground.

We are feeling a bit nostalgic lately, as we can already look back on the past months and feel really great about the things we've seen and done. There is still so much to do!

The above picture is of my son, Alexander, in Frankfurt. We love this picture of him because it shows his personality - very silly at times - Mr. Giggles. His most memorable experience was at BMW World in Munich.

My oldest son, Aaron, is head over heels in love with German public transportation. We do not have a car, so we rely on the buses and trains to get us places. Aaron can tell you from memory the bus routes in Marburg. A boy from South Dakota, Aaron has enjoyed the Deutsche Bahn. He was thrilled when we went to London at the beginning of January and got to ride the London Tube AND a double decker bus! We heard much analysis of how the London Tube was very different from the Munich subway (he prefers Munich's underground).

Since our arrival, we have traveled down Germany's Romantic Road, visiting fabulous towns along the way - Wuerzburg, Rothenberg, Dinkelsbuhl and Fuessen. We took a train to Munich with family, enjoyed Frankfurt's sights like the Goethe museum and the Dom, and even took a train down to Salzburg, Austria- which is so lovely in Winter.

Wuerzburg shopping area (above)
Rothenburg (below)

Neuschwanstein the Fairy Tale Castle (above)
Salzburg, Austria (below)

We are planning out our time this Spring, knowing that we have to choose the places we visit wisely. Nuremberg, Berlin, Heidelberg and Koblenz are on our list this Spring. We have received many suggestions - thank you! Take care, stay warm and rest assured, Spring is around the corner. I can hear our family and friends at home saying, "Yeah, right, dream on!"