Well, one thing that I have definitely missed about Germany is the Christmas Market. You can find one in just about every town and each one seems to have its own unique flavor. But one thing you can be sure of – there will be Glühwein. Nothing else can keep you warm and satisfied as you trundle along looking at the various Christmas wares. Ahhh… Christmas in Germany. I love it!
Last night we finally made it to the Heidelberg Castle Illumination. Three times a year they reenact the burning of the castle; it is an amazing thing to see and draws quite a crowd. Although we have lived in the Heidelberg area for about 7 years in total, this is the first time that we made it out to see this awesome event. Thanks to our friends, Holger and Angelyn, who took our German conversation group (of which, I tend to provide the most entertainment) up the Philosophenweg to see the lighting from the opposite side of the Neckar River. It was a great evening!
Last week, our friends Melanie and Richard visited us from Crete. On Friday and Saturday, I drove them down to Bavaria to see the Neuschwanstein Castle. No matter how many times I’ve been there, this is one of my favorite places to go in Germany. Maybe not so much to the castle itself, but the area around Füssen is amazingly gorgeous. The colors, the people, the food – all of it comes together to make you feel welcome in one of the most beautiful areas on the planet.
One of the reasons I had really been looking forward to making the trip is that I wanted to have some time to walk around and photograph the Neuschwanstein Castle. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t have the same plans for me. After grabbing a few gray, cloudy pics, I went to one of the restaurants along the path and enjoyed some of my favorite German cuisine while Richard and Melanie toured the castle. Now, I might not have gotten the photos I wanted (another time, perhaps), but the food was good.
Well, for those that hadn’t heard, we are officially back in Germany. We have been here for a little over a month now and are slowly starting to get settled back in. Currently we are staying in a small, temporary apartment near Heidelberg, but expect to move into a house in another nearby town by the middle of May. While the apartment is big enough for the four of us, plus Annie and Chester (dog and cat), the walls do seem to get a little close in with each passing day. Fortunately, the weather here has turned absolutely gorgeous. Today, after a morning run (the first time I’ve run in I don’t know how long!) and a delicious pretzel snack (we’re in Germany, what can I say?), we headed out to one of our favorite local locations – a small lake in the forest near the headquarters of SAP in Walldorf.
Well, Ginger finally made it back from taking her test in Germany. She had quite the adventure making it back here to Crete. A real Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Oh, and I found out later that the story had even one more twist. When she got into Basel, she didn’t think things seemed just right so she talked with Information. Turns out she got off at the wrong Basel train station (there were 2 – go figure!). She had to make a mad dash to catch a taxi to the other train station. And believe it or not, she shared the taxi with a Greek couple that couldn’t speak any German. Fortunately for them, Ginger knew what to tell the taxi guy to get them all to the right station.
What a ride!
Well, for those of you that have been keeping up, Ginger flew to Germany this past Thursday to take her NCE exam. She has been studying and studying for this test for so long now. Well, today she finally took the test (won’t find out results for 6-8 weeks!), but the stress continues because some dang volcano in Iceland wants to go and erupt, spewing clouds of ash into the sky and preventing thousands of flights from taking place in Europe.
Most of the airports in Mid to Northern Europe are shut down – and yes, that includes the Frankfurt airport! So, for now Ginger is stuck in Heidelberg with just a couple of days worth of clothes. I’m thinking that if she doesn’t get out of there by Tuesday, we’re going to have to get her a train ticket to Rome, where she can hopefully catch a flight to Athens and then back here to Crete. That is… if Rome doesn’t get shut down by then, which I am hearing rumblings of. In the meantime, the volcano keeps spewing more ash into the sky.
Volcano erupting in Iceland
Another cram session
Ginger has been studying for her NCE exam for a very, very long time now and she is just one day away from flying to Germany to take it. This is her next step in becoming a certified counselor. We are all very proud of how far she has come and know that she is going to do great on the test.
Having said that, we all know that testing can bring on the jitters, so feel free to send her some words of encouragement (if you don’t know how to get in touch with her, just use the contact page). I’m sure she would also love some prayers for those that are the praying type! Go Ginger!
BTW – She will be finishing her Master’s Degree up in just a few weeks now. Woo Hoo!
Well, we’ve been in Crete for 3 weeks now, but before I start writing about that, I wanted to share some of the last photos we took before we left Heidelberg.
Well, this has been one very hectic week for the Barker clan. For those that don’t know already, we are in the process of moving to Chania, on the island of Crete in Greece. This has been in the works for some time now, but just recently started coming together.
When we got back from our trip to Arizona, I finally got my official job offer and subsequent orders to take us to Crete. With orders in hand, I was able to schedule the pickup of our household goods just in the nick of time, since our lease was already set to terminate at the end of August. So, the packers were scheduled to come to our house on the 27th and 28th of August.
They got there a little bit late on the 27th, but quickly got to work. But that was probably the only quick thing about it. Overall, it was a REALLY slow process, with lots of breaks and discussions. They called it quits at about 8:30 at night the first day. The second day they got there around 8:00 in the morning and worked until 11:00 at night, but did get everything all packed up. I felt bad for everyone in the neighborhood, though, as they pounded the nails in on the crates at such a late hour. Nobody got a lot of sleep that night!
While the packers were there, I shipped the first of our cars. I shipped my PT Cruiser myself, which cost us €1100.00; for those that don’t deal in Euro, the exchange rate is really poor right now so I paid $1,653.89 to have my car shipped from Heidelberg, Germany to Piraeus, Greece. That still leaves me having to either take the ferry or fly to Piraeus, clear the car through customs, and take it back to Crete on the ferry. Fun stuff! I just hope I can figure it all out!
Sarah
Holgar and Angelyn Kuhn from our church invited us to their daughter Sarah’s birthday down by the Neckar River. It was such a beautiful place to hang out; quite a popular place actually! We had been wanting to go hang out down there for years, but for some reason or another we never made it. Pretty sad considering it is only about 20 minutes from our house… Anyways, enjoy the photos!
