Freiburg, Germany

We want to get back into the routine of travelling again. Since Elly's been born we've just put it on the back burner because it was so much easier to stay home. Not near as interesting though. Not only that, but we want to take advantage of the opportunity we have being here in Europe. There are so many places yet that we would like to see. We know we're here for several more years, but that time will go quickly and I don't want to get to the end of our time here and have regrets that we didn't see more places.

So with that in mind, we decided to check out a town not too far from us one weekend in early September. We went to Freiburg, Germany.

Elly's stroller had been packed away for some time and she was excited to see it again. It was folded down, but she climbed right in and made herself comfortable.

We went to Freiburg on a Saturday so we were able to enjoy the local market. I think most towns in Germany (maybe even Europe wide, but I can't say for sure) have a Saturday market. It's such a nice tradition that I'm really glad they've held on to. This market was in the Munsterplatz right beside St. Martin's Cathedral. There is no better place to buy fresh produce and flowers than on open air market like this.

Such beautiful flowers!

Looking up at the bell tower from the entrance to St. Martin's Cathedral.

I would love to know what all these figurines represent. There are so many carvings. I'm always amazed at the attention to detail that was put into the old buildings here in Europe.

I knew nothing about the history of this cathedral so I looked it up in Wikipedia. The construction on it started around 1200. It was partly built on the foundation of an original church that had been there from the beginning of Freiburg in 1120.

It survived the bombing raids in November 1944, which destroyed all of the houses on the west and north sides of the market. Once again...I LOVE the rich history here in Germany!

Take a close look at the picture above. Do you see anything unusual??

Bet you never saw this on a cathedral before :) From what I understand, it was constructed to aim the bare behind directly toward the building that housed the Catholic church leaders. According to historians, it was an in-your-face "thanks for nothing" gesture from the Freiburgers, who had to build and finance St. Martin's with no financial help from the Catholic church. Interesting...



These little canals, called Freiburger Bächle, flow alongside many of the streets in Freiburg's old town. Originally, they were used for sewers and to provide craftsmen with water, but today they flow with clean water and you see lots of kids playing in them, especially on a hot day like it was when we were there.

Legend has it that if you step into one of these canals, you must return to Freiburg one day.

We had to encourage Elly to play in the water. She was reluctant at first, but once she did it she had fun with it.







Before we headed back to Stuttgart, we had lunch at a little streetside cafe. Our seats were right beside a canal, so Elly had fun cooling off in the water while we waited for our food. We had a really nice day and were glad we got out of the house and had a little adventure in a new town.

Weekend trip to Garmisch

The middle of August we decided to take a weekend trip to Garmisch. We love that area of Germany and it is often our vacation destination of choice for a quick get away. Travelling any distance is still a little difficult with Elly. She's great for the first couple of hours, but after that she gets restless and frustrated with being in her car seat. Both directions of the trip resulted in a complete meltdown. At those times we just had to pull over and give her a break. Often she just wanted "up o' Mama", which is really sweet, but kind of hard to do on a long trip. Usually after a bit of a break she could deal with the rest of the drive.

One of our favorite spots to visit in Garmisch is "The Gorge". There is a path carved in the side of the hill that runs along side a rushing river. It's really beautiful. At times my heart would stop though when I realized how close we had to walk to the edge...with Elly. I held her very close to me.















At the end of the mountain-side path, it opened to this clearing where people were resting. It was amazing how calm the river (it looked more like a creek at this point, actually) was here before it entered the gorge. It was a totally different story once the water entered between those two mountains.

We rested a few minutes here before climbing stairs to the top of the mountain. I wish I had counted the steps up the hillside. It was quite a climb.

At the top we got a little lunch. Here Elly was waiting for Daddy to get back to the table with our food.

Looking back up the road we walked down. It was very steep.

Getting ready for our bike ride back to the hotel.

Elly and Daddy out on the balcony on our last morning there. Elly really liked the balcony.

Being such a good girl...staying out of the way while we cleared the room :)

The BEAUTIFUL view in Garmisch.

One evening another family told us about this rodelbahn that's right beside the old Olympic stadium. We never knew it was there, so before we left town we decided to see what it was about. I have to say it was a lot of fun! Elly didn't want to try it at first, but we finally got her on it for a ride and she loved it!

Behind us in the picture above is the track that pulls you to the top of the hill and from there you ride the luge-like sled down the track. Lots of fun!

August 2011

I seriously don't know where our summer has gone. As I'm writing this we're already into October and it just seems like a few weeks ago we got back from the states. We've had a really nice summer though. Sam think's it's been a cold summer, but when I look back at pictures I realize Elly's played in the pool alot and we've had a lot of nice days outdoors.

Elly has absolutely LOVED having the kids next door home from school all summer long. If she hears them in their backyard she goes outside to talk to them and I've often left the front door open so they could play back and forth between our houses. Elly is always on the lookout for them. Every time we pass their windows I have to remind Elly that we don't look in other people's houses. If I don't watch her she'll have her face plastered on their window trying to see where they are. They are really great neighbors and we're thankful they're going to be here another couple of years.

Elly is such a great little helper. Sometimes jobs take a lot longer due to that "help", but it just makes her day if she feels like she's helping. Often when I'm in the kitchen working, she'll pull a chair up to the counter so she can be part of what I'm doing. She loves to say "Elly and Mama are busy". So often, when she wants me to spend my day on the floor playing with her I have to tell her "Mama's busy", so when she can be part of that "busy-ness" she just loves it.

Any time Sam is working in the yard she's his right hand man. She thinks doing grown-up chores is just the best. It would be awesome to find a way to capture that enthusiasm she has for work. Here she was "helping" Sam mow the back yard. I don't know how he ever did it without her :)

Another beautiful day for Elly to spend in the pool.





Such concentration



Elly loves to "help" me make her muffins. She knows just what the process is and keeps me straight. Her favorite part is tasting the batter before I put the pan in the oven...she's my girl for sure :)




Elly always wants to be the one to put the bag back in the trash can. If she sees us doing it she yells "I do it!".




She's even helping get herself dressed these days. One day I was upstairs working in our rooms and she came into our room looking like this...
She has quite the fashion sense, don't you think?







One day at the PX I bought her some sidewalk chalks not thinking she would really be that interested. Was I ever wrong! She loves coloring with her chalks. It could have something to do with the fact that a lot of times the kids next door join her to draw on the concrete. Our sidewalk is often covered in pretty pictures. I love it!




For several years I've wanted to make my own Green Tomato Relish because anytime Mom sends it through the mail it arrives in bad shape. Somehow during the trip the seal gets broken and by the time it gets to me it smells like it's going bad. What a waste when I've had to throw that wonderful relish in the trash.

The problem has been finding green tomatoes. I've never seen them for sale over here, so this year I finally decided to buy my own tomato plants just for the green tomatoes. Thankfully, I got enough to make two batches of the relish. I LOVE this stuff!


Elly discovered my Nintendo DS one day and took a liking to it. It entertains her quite well for some time so it's a great little trick to have in my back pocket for those times I need to keep her busy. This particular day she brought a blanket into the kitchen so she could still be near me, but play with the DS. She's such a funny little girl!
And ANOTHER beautiful day in the pool.





One evening we were having a friend over for a cook out and Elly had her dolls outside with her. Sam told me to come look and here Elly had her shirt up and was "nursing" her baby. It was the cutest thing although I think it took our company by surprise :) It's such a natural thing to her since she was nursed. That's just what mamas do to take care of their babies. I think it's really sweet.






And we'll end on another fashion statement from Elly. A girl's gotta have her some stylin' sun glasses :)



Until next time...