During our trip to Cologne for Carnival, Erin and I took a day trip to Düsseldorf. It took us about an hour to get there from where we were staying in Bonn, and it takes even less time if you’re already in Cologne. Within Germany, Düsseldorf is known for a few things: high-end fashion, dark…
Freiburg is a pretty small city; its roughly 225,000 residents make it the 34th largest city in Germany. A bustling metropolis, this is not. Despite its small size, however, Freiburg boasts one of Germany’s most successful football (soccer) teams. Ok, not successful in the same way as Bayern Munich, where every day without another trophy…
Brian and I were recently in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (this includes Cologne, Bonn, and Düsseldorf, most notably) to celebrate Karneval (or Fasching, or Fasnacht, or Mardi Gras, depending on where you come from), and it was… an experience. Before I delve into our trip specifics, here’s a quick lesson about this holiday,…
On our way home from a trip to Luxembourg City last weekend (to be discussed in a later post), Brian and I decided to take a side trip to Trier, which really couldn’t have been more “on the way.” Trier is located in Western Germany, just 40 minutes by car from Luxembourg City. I didn’t…
Erin and I both teach on occasion in Waldkirch, a small town to the northeast of Freiburg. The train station there sits on the edge of the town, and just beyond it is a hill with a medieval castle. We can see the castle every time we walk back to the station from class, and…
One of the best things about living in Germany is getting to visit small towns that you might not get to on a shorter trip, and seeing what makes them unique. Erin and I have been to beautiful Konstanz twice now (in October and December), so I thought I’d highlight it.
This post is a little late, but I thought I’d share our recent New Year’s Eve experience in Freiburg, Germany. We went to Schlossburg, a hill that overlooks the city, to celebrate. Here is a list of the differences between New Year’s Eve in the US and New Year’s Eve in Germany, as I experienced…
Of the 6 million Jews that were killed during the Holocaust, between 300 and 350 of them were from Freiburg.* *I haven’t found an exact number of deaths of Freiburg Jews, but there were 350 Jewish citizens who were arrested and deported to Camp Gurs, an internment camp in southwest France. Camp Gurs was, at…
The holidays are truly an awesome time to be in Europe. It has everything you could ever want, from cold weather (Florida girl here!), to miles of lights decorating the city’s buildings and streets, to Christmas Markets! The only thing missing was my family, but we were lucky enough to have Brian’s family come visit…
One of the reasons that Erin and I chose to come to Germany was that the process to get a Visa is relatively straightforward. I’m not saying it’s easy, just that the rules are defined a little better than in some other countries. So, are you trying to figure out how you can get a…
The Wildly Ordinary Life 