Day 2- Nurnberg

Our second day in Bayern was spent in the city of Nurnberg. You might be familiar with the city because of the Nurnberg Trials- the trials that took place after WWII to try all of the SS and higher Nazi party members.

Here we are entering the Documentation Center of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. Nurnberg was one of the main meeting places of the the NSDAP. The entire grounds have been turned into a memorial site and museum.

This is the outdoor stadium where Hitler gave many of his well-known speeches to an enthusiastic field of Nazi party members.

Sam and I standing in the exact spot Hitler stood while addressing the audience.

Scott at the same spot looking out opposite at the empty field that once held thousands of SS and Nazi party members.

We weren't sure if we were supposed to smile in this kind of picture. It was almost surreal, standing there where Hitler stood. Eerie, really. What a unique experience.

This is the enormous colosseum constructed on the Nazi Party Rally Grounds.

We spent nearly 2 hours going through the museum. It was incredibly thorough and educational. I learned so much. There was much to learn. It wasn't really an atmosphere of photography but here is one picture Sam got of some old German Marks.

And after that happy and uplifting experience...

We were off to visit the most famous Weihnachtsmarkt in Germany! Can't go without some Gluhwien.

Our last stop before heading back to Augsburg was the Nurnberg Castle. Scottie's first Castle visit. Castles are becoming quite normal to Sam and me.



Nurnberg was a fascinating city. We wish we could have spent much more time there; but what an incredible opportunity to tour truly epic places in history.

Augsburg- Thanks to Gus and Justin

Sam, Scott and I just spent a jam packed week in the State of Bayern (You might know it as Bavaria). We were lucky enough to have a place to stay for FREE the whole week. Our Fulbright friends, Gus and Justin, are living in Augsburg - just outside of Munich. They went home to the States for the Holidays so their apartment was just sitting there unoccupied. They are very kind and generous people so they let us use their place as a home base while we traveled around Bayern. Thanks guys!!!

We spent a lot of time playing cards at night. Scott taught us a game called "Golf" and we also played a lot of Cribbage. The cards also kept us busy on our many hours of train rides this week.

These images from the WC made me laugh out loud so I figured they were blog-worthy.

Scott had just a smidge of jet lag left. One night he fell asleep at 10pm in his clothes and slept until noon. I think that took care of it.

We did so much traveling we actually only spent one day in the city of Augsburg. Which was beautiful and deserved more time- we hope to go back in the Spring. Here are the few photos we did take.

Our Christmas Eve consisted of a delicious dinner at the one and only restaurant open in the city. Thanks to Scott's dad for generously sending some money with Scott to pay for our Christmas meal. Here are the guys outside the restaurant.

We had a wonderful evening. The food was great and we didn't have to cook!

It really was an amzing week. We traveled to the cities of Munich (twice), Nurnberg, Dachau, and Fussen. These blogs will be up very soon.

Welcome Scottie!!!

Scottie is here! He brought us lots of American goodies. Thanks to my family for packing an entire suitcase with American groceries, lots of Grandma's perfect cookies and my favorite bars from my mom. As well as some more winter clothes and books for Sam.



We knew we had to keep Scottie awake until atleast 9pm so he didn't suffer from jet lag. We went straight to the Weihnachtsmarkt! Notice how there was zero snow on the ground when we began.





Sam's classmate, Lucas, met up with us which was wonderful for us because we could ask him all of our dumb American questions. He really enlightened us on many things at the Market which we had no clue about.

Notice a few snowflakes starting to fall.


Of course, the Gluehwein! I think it is something that grows on you. I have liked each cup more than the last. It is quite strong at first.


Snow is getting a little heavier.


Snow begins to cover the ground and stay there.


Snow is coming down like crazy. We think Scottie brought it with him. No one here expected it. It was atleast 2 inches in an hour.


The near white out almost kept us inside for the night but we really wanted to take Scott to the Wiesbaden Market.


We did end up going. It had stopped snowing but it was FREEZING!!! We stayed just long enough to do a quick walk through and stop for dinner at one of the stands. We had wonderful Kartoffel-Kase Wursts (Brats with potatoes and cheese inside) and french fries and one more cup of Gluehwein (mostly just to warm our hands).



So that was Scott's first day here. Unexpectedly cold and snowy but still fun. He managed to stay awake until after 10:00 so he successfully avoided the jet lag. Today we woke up to full snow cover and even colder temperatures. It's about 5-10 degrees farenheit; unfortunate since most of the things we wanted to do with Scott are outside. We'll see what we can find to do.

Oh yeah, today is Scott's birthday! Glucklich Geburtstag Scott!!

Carols by Candlelight

Sam's professor is the director of the University of Mainz choir and he invited us to their Christmas concert. I'm grateful we got the invite! The concert was great; they were very talented. We had no idea what to expect but it turned out to be a pretty big deal. Actually, it turned out to be a charity event as well. They were selling Gluehwein, juice, and tasty homemade waffles with powdered sugar! We wanted to do our part so we decided we would give 5 euro to the cause by means of purchasing 5 waffles. Delicious and helpful : )

By the way, it was all in English. It was so nice to hear English at all let alone to hear American Christmas carols. It really put us in the Christmas spirit!

When we got home we looked up Sam's professor on Wikipedia. Sam had heard he was well-known around here. Take a look at just bits and pieces of this guy's Wikipedia page.

Manfred Siebald is a German singer-songwriter and Lecturer in American Studies in Mainz.

He is best known as a Christian singer-song writer, who writes and speaks on Contemporary Worship music. His songs have gained a firm place in the song books of many different Christian denominations and are sung in fellowships and youth groups throughout Germany.

Over time he has become the most well known German Christian singer songwriter, and has influenced many others.

Additionally Manfred Siebald translates English songs and writes lyrics for other singers.

To date Siebald has penned about 350 songs, produced 19 albums and published seven poetry books.

Manfred Siebald performs about thirty concerts annually, accompanying himself on various acoustic guitars. For this he travels all over Germany and abroad. For his concerts abroad, including the U.S., South Africa and Sri Lanka, he has produced English versions of his songs.

In 1983 he was made Assistant Professor (tenured) for American Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University and continued his academic work after completion of his PhD. He interrupted his work at Mainz by taking sabbaticals at Wheaton in Illinois (Clyde S. Kirby) Professor in 1992[Frederick Beuckner last held this professorship) and Guest Professor at Georgia State University, Atlanta,Georgia(1996 and 1997). In the first year (1996) Siebald produced the monograph Der verlorene Sohn in der amerikanischen Literatur - The Prodigal Son in American Literature which was published in 2003. He was made Associate Professor in American Studies in Mainz in 2002 and has remained there to the present.

Manfred Siebald is Curator of the Faith and Science Institute of the Studentenmission in Deutschland (SMD) the German equivalent of the UCCF. In 1979 the Nationwide television special "Whether My Songs Are Loud or Soft" was broadcast about his work.

In 2008, President Horst Koehler awarded him and his wife the Federal Cross of Merit for their tireless charity work both at home and abroad.

Pretty impressive, right?

Introduction to Weihnachtsmarkts

Weihnachtsmarkt = Christmas Market.

They are huge and beautiful and the definite highlight of the Holiday season here in Germany. They are comprised of dozens of individual booths (very cute, decorated, mini log cabins). The booths sell traditional German food and drinks including Gluehwein. Gluehwein is also a trademark of Germany during this time of year. It is hot, spiced red wine. Can't wait to try the famous Gluehwein they serve here in Mainz. The booths also sell Christmas gifts for all. Hand made arts and crafts as well as winter clothing and accessories, children's toys, candles, home decor and countless other German things.

Mainz' own Weihnachtsmarkt is very well known in this region. There is also one across the river in Wiesbaden. We personally like that one better (it is more spread out and has more lights) but for some reason anyone and everyone we ask around here says Mainz is the best. Whatever.

Last Saturday Sam and I made a quick trip to each of these to snap a few photos to show y'all.

We got slightly distracted when I dropped my mitten in the middle of the extremely crowded path while it was very dark out. We were both very upset because these are the mittens that Sam gave me for Christmas last year and they are very unique and NOT cheap. Sam had given up, he said there was no way we could find it (he should have been right) but I insisted we re-trace our every step just in case. What do you know, Sam found it! YAY!!! (Mom, I know what you're thinking...typical me. oops.)

Anyways, we did not get that many pictures and they are not that great. Don't you worry though, this is just a taste of what's to come. I will try to get some in daylight so you can see the booths etc.

Scott Kirchoff (best man in our wedding) is coming to visit us for 2 weeks! He arrives on Friday and we have many plans for his trip. We will be visiting these Markets again as well as at least 2 or 3 others. I plan to take lots of pictures while Sam and Scott are catching up on life.

The best news of all; tomorrow is my last day of work before I get TWO WEEKS OFF!!! I am so thrilled. The kiddos are cute but draining. We plan to do as much traveling as possible with Scottie so I hope to have a couple good blogs in store for y'all. Although possibly not until after Christmas.

I hope everyone back home is surviving the extreme cold and snow we keep hearing about. Take care!