Cologne Carnival 2009

We put on our costumes, hopped on a train, and arrived in Cologne for Carnival! We started the party on the train from Stuttgart. Kathrin brought champagne and I made sure that we had food to go with -- artichoke dip and eggplant spread. Unfortunately, Kathrin's sister (dead bird in the picture) couldn't participate much until later in the day due to a hangover from the night before.

Cologne was full of cheerful people in all kinds of costumes. It was so much fun just watching what people wore. I was so proud of myself for finding a cow outfit for Josh and was surprised that he put it on. He looked so cute. Since we started out early, we also ended the day early. Not even passed midnight and we were back in the hotel. I can't image what the street was like after midnight... had to be super crazy.










Sunday was the student parade and then Rose Monday was the high-light of Carnival. A picture is worth a hundred words. I hope you can feel the atmosphere from the pictures. People were yelling 'Camele' for candies... and candies were flying around like big ice cubes. I got hit so many times. My catching skills weren't very good, unlike Josh's... he got so many candies and flowers. He was a charming cow!

Berlin

After a year of life together in Germany, we finally made a trip together to the capital - Berlin. My first impression was... good food. We were starving after we checked into the hotel. We found an Indian restaurant 100 meter from our hotel. The food was great and the price was reasonable...nan a bit different and spice just right.

A good dinner plus a good night sleep, and we got an early start for our visit. Our first stop the Berliner Dom, is a big protestant church with a huge dome you can climb all the way to the top of. I could barely walk by the time we made it to the top of the Dome, but after seeing the view from the top, the sweat was well worth it. Our stomachs soon started protesting after the workout. We walked for a while until we found an restaurant ; Berin is a very diverse city with a great range of cuisine. Lucky us, we found one and had a good brunch. Afterwards, we spent the rest of afternoon on museum island. There are five museums - Bode Museum, Pergamonmuseum (it is one word not two. Here is an example of the language for you) Neues Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie, and Altes Museum on the museum island. We got an museum day pass and visited three of them. Our favorite one was Pergamonmuseum which has many famous examples of Greek ancient architecture - Pergamon Alter and sculptures. Only one disappointment was that part of museum was closed for some reason. The other two we visited were Bode Museum (sculpture collection museum) and Altes Museum where we saw some ancient Egyptian arts.



The picture on the left was taken on the top of the Reichstag which was built to house the German Parliament. We waited in line for an hour just to get to the top. Can you see how interesting it is that people walk around the glass dome.

Can you tell this is Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall)? We didn't notice until I saw the sign which I learned from German class (good thing I was paying attention in the class.) Can you see the guy in uniform on the very right. He would stamp your passport with the East German entry stamp with one Euro.

Berlin is very large and spread out and in the end we only saw a small portion of it. I'm sure we'll visit again if we are staying in Germany longer.

Schloss of Bavarian King Ludwig II

We stayed in a small town by Bodensee the night before and didn't realize that Neuschwanstein was two hours away. So...we got up early with our brunch packed by our hotel and headed to the castle. It's such a breath taking drive...thanks to Josh's great driving...he kept his eyes on the passengers and the side of the road instead of the center of the road (well...not most time... I'm just teasing Josh here.) Actually, the scenery was so beautiful that my hand was out with my camera half of the time.

Schloss Neuschwanstein (Swan Castle) is so magnificent even from a distance. No wonder that Disney would copy the design for its magic kingdom. The view from Neuschwanstein was incredible. We could see Hohenswangau (yellow color castle at the bottom right) and the lake. We also visited the Hohenswangau since it was just situated about 30 minute walk from Neuschwanstein. At the waiting line, I noticed one guy wore an orange shirt with 'Go Bronco'. I read further...it said Boise State and Fiesta Bowl. I was so surprised that I sneaked a shot of him.

Having brunch while we walking...very efficient! Time is money!!

By the time we walked back to our car, it started pouring rain. Since it was still early, we decide to visit one more castle nearby - Linderhof.

Three castles in one day and they were all owned by the Bavarian King Ludwig II who built the first two I mentioned above. Therefore, we heard the King Ludwig II story three times, especially the part about how he was mentally ill and mysteriously died with his doctor in the lake. Enough of the Ludwig, each castle has its beauty and its style. I was amazed and impressed by each one. Although it was a lot of castles to see in one day, it was still a wonderful road trip.

Bodensee

We were so happy to have Maytal coming to visit us. We decided to take Maytal to the most beautiful lake, Bodensee and the most popular castle, Schloss Neuschwanstein in Germany. Our friend Katja also joined us. We picked up Maytal at the airport early in the morning and left for the Bodensee around noon. A road trip is always fun, especially when we have more than just the two of us.

Lindau is at the north side of the Bodensee and it's only few km from the Austria boarder. We actually drove into Austria by Josh's mistake - a wrong turn. This picture was taken from the harbor of Lindau over looking the lake all the way to Switzerland. It's absolutely heavenly.

Wasserburg, about 5 km west from Lindau is also a picturesque town. The onion shape dome church is one of the most frequently photographed sights in this region. We rented a paddling boat and enjoyed the views from the water. We had so much fun with the boat... First, we almost got run over by a big ferry because we were in its departure path. We got a few loud horns and many stares... Then, the stairwheel stopped functioning... I bet the boat rental shop never thought that they need to sell boat rental insurance.

Then, we got bored...

Christmas Market in Germany

If you like Christmas, you would love Christmas Markets in Germany. One of the best time to be in Germany - feastive cities/towns and cheerful people due to the side affect on glüh wines. We usually ate tons of food and had a few glüh wines while walking around.

We saw several Christmas Markets that were close to Stuttgart. Some were local Christmas Markets so they were small. I went to one of the small ones in Tübingen. It was cute surrounded by old buildings. Since it's a local market, there were kids playing instruments instead of caroling - trying to earn a few extra holiday bucks. Tübingen Christmas Market only lasts for a couple days over a weekend. Thus, the market was super crowded. There was a time that I could not walk or move unless people started moving around me.

Ludwigsburg - a professional Christmas Market. It started pouring rain after we were there for about one hour.


Stuttgart - one of the biggest professional ones in southern Germany. The booths were heavily decorated and sold various products from Christmas ornaments, candles, sausage, sweets, glüh wine, to household kitchen wear and clean supplies. They also had small rides for children.

Finally, my favorite Essilingen - a professional medieval Christmas Market. Forgot the camera so...no pictures. Hopefully... next year. Besides the traditional Christmas Market, Essilingen had a separate Medieval part that was lite with electrical and oil lanterns, fire torches, and random wood fire places. The booths sold medieval clothing, containers, and food (a roasting pig on top of fire, big chunk of meat with bread...) They even had two huge wooden bath tabs with real naked people taking baths and a porto-potty that would amaze you.

Maulbronn Monastery (Kloster)

We were in Maulbronn, a little town in the middle of no where Germany. The public transportation to Maulbronn was not every convenient. We had to take a train and a bus to get there. The bus didn't come very often either... it took us more then 2 hours to get home although it's not far from Stuttgart.

Maulbroon Monastery was a significant historical architecture site. It was designated a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Herrtage Site in 1993. It is just like the Pyramids of Gizeh, the Great Wall of China, or the Spanish Escorial.



Look at the color of trees in the picture. Don't you love fall. It's so beautiful.

Little sister

Well you would never guess from the way Celia eats that she only weights about 42KG! Here is her initiation to German cuisine at Lake Titisee in the Black Forest. We are not sure where the anger in this shot comes from, but that sausage is in BIG trouble!

Maybe she should buy a smaller one?

Actually, the bear is approximately the size of her luggage!

Here we all are! Just back from hiking. The scenery was great!

The Black Forest is lightly populated and has miles of trails that are very well marked.

By Josh

Karlsruhe

Another town another 'Schloss' -- The Baroque residence of the Dukes of Baden. We got there in the early morning and spent some time wondering around town and shopping (as you can see in the pictures...it's not just for me...I know what you are thinking...) Later that afternoon, we went to Josh's friend's house for BBQ. Mathias and Dani have two daughters 3 and 5. They are very cute and love Josh very much. Josh was chasing them around the house and making them laughs. Sometimes, Josh didn't even do anything, they still giggle just by staring at him. It was funny to watch them.

Karlsruhe reminds me of Boise -- quite, peaceful, not a lot of people, house with a yard (Mathias and Dani have a nice house with a inclusive yard.)

Rhine Valley

We went to the Rhine Valley for 'Rhine in Flames' which is held a few times (in different weeks of the summer) a year. There were three towns involved with the big firework celebrations - Bingen (the other side of the river), Assmannshausen, and Rudesheim (that's where we were in the picture). We took a ferry across the Rhine River and then took a steep hike for about 60 minutes. We got so tired by the end of day from hiking that we couldn't stay any longer for the fireworks which started at 10:30 pm. (Well...that's another typical Ally and Josh.) On the train back to hotel in Bacharach, we did see about 50 boats lined up on the river, getting ready for the display. Lights from the boats reflecting on the river were so beautiful. Next time, no hiking just fireworks.




See the lift chair behind me!! We should have taken the lift, so we wouldn't miss the fireworks. We lost the path on the way down and snuck between the grape vines.





We stopped in Mainz on the way back home and took a stroll along the Rhine River ....had some tea and dessert, and just enjoyed a good sunny day out!!

Lichtenstein

Fairytale castle which was built as such...

Sigmaringen

Sigmaringen has a very cool Residenz Schloss (castle) which was the famous Hohenzollern families residence. We took a guided tour inside...sorry no photo's inside...

Us at Schwabish Hall

Another parting shot from us.

We are still a little unsure what the point of the festival was, but it was great.

Schwabish Hall

This is an old set from May. Ally and I went to Schwabish Hall to see a festival...something about cake, salt and (beer and music mostly). It was great...
Here is the town...
And here is the historical play ...