Biking at the lake and missing Jodie

As most of you know, Jodie left yesterday to go to Kentucky for work. I am missing her badly already. I am very thankful for the great friends that we have here in Germany that always keep me entertained when she has to go out of town (or the country, or the continent). Two of those friends are Zoran and Beba. Today I went for a bike ride with them to the Bodensee. We had a great time. The weather was excellent and the scenery was amazing as always. I started in our village and met them in Singen. From there we followed the Aach (small river) through Rielasingen along a sandy/rocky path with big shade trees. Then we cut through Arlen and into the open fields with small mountains on our right and villages on our left. This path is lined with apple trees for most of the way. We stopped along the way and grabbed an apple from the trees. I hope the farmers don't mind. Beba made us do it! Once we reached Radolfzell we cruised around a little bit and stopped to walk out on a small pier. That is where this picture was taken.

Zoran and Beba
We then turned around and made our way back home. The whole trip took about 4 hours. Great day. Just wish Jodie was here with us. She loves to ride as well. Especially when we ride at the lake.

This is my first post. I hope I didn't bore any of you too badly. Don't worry, Jodie has access to the internet so I am sure she will be posting updates regularly as well.

Today is Our Anniversary!!

I cannot believe 3 years have already passed since our wedding day! It has been an incredible 3 years. After only 9 months of marriage we moved to Germany. Each day has been a new adventure, and each day brings more and more happiness.

Love
Jodie and Adam

"There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage."
~Martin Luther

Festival in Singen

We had a great night last night at the Singen Stadtfest (more pictures to come later in the week). Saturday night was our friend Debbie's last big night out before she moves back to Australia on Saturday. We will miss her very much!

The festival was a lot of fun. We ate bratwurst and listened to a brass band. The band played the kind of songs that you hear at Oktoberfest, and they encourage the audience to sing along. Since we were lucky enough to attend Oktoberfest in 3 different cities last year, we were well prepared for singing along with the crowd last night (see Jodie singing and dancing in picture above).
Festival in Singen

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Today we went to the Black Forest with Debbie to meet up with our friend Annette. Annette comes from a small town there called Hausen vor Wald. The town was having their local festival, so we were able to listen to some more brass band music. It was a lovely afternoon with good friends.

Overall it was a great weekend!

Love
Jodie and Adam


"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth."
~Robert Southey

Ich liebe Deutschland

This afternoon we went to a flea market in nearby Radolfzell with our friend Debbie. We bought a collection of old black and white drawings from our region. They are fantastic! After we returned to the house our neighbor, Frau Bauman, greeted us from her driveway. Frau Bauman is 87 years old and does not speak any English. She invited us over to sit and visit with her in her garden. We brought over our new drawing collection from the flea market and showed them to her. We went through each picture and she explained the exact angle and location each was drawn from. It was an incredible visit. Before we left she gave us fresh apples and tomatoes. She is an amazingly kind woman. The best part though, is that we can of course only speak German with Frau Bauman. It is so rewarding to learn a foreign language. It has helped us to learn so much more about the people and the culture in our region. Thank you to Frau Bauman, for opening her garden and her heart to us today.

... now we're off to the Singen Stadtfest to learn more about German beer :) Zum voll!


Learn a new language and get a new soul. ~Czech Proverb

Deutschland Tour

Today the Deutschland Professional Cycling Race came through Singen. Here are some of the cyclists as they began their ride through the Bodensee region this afternoon...

We were then inspired to have our own speed mountain biking tour this afternoon. We ran our regular course in 2/3 the time it normally takes. Look out Team Discovery Channel! We are on your tail!

Love
Jodie and Adam

"It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle."
Ernest Hemingway

I love summer festivals....

We spent the afternoon at a local Medieval Festival with our friends Erin and Debbie. We ate meat on a stick and saw some sword fighting. It was a great afternoon, although the women in Xena Warrior Princess outfits were a little bit intimidating....

Love,
Jodie and Adam


"I'm gonna get medieval on your ass"
Marsellus Wallace- Pulp Fiction

August in Germany

You just never know how the weather will turn out near the Bodensee in August. Bodensee is the German name for Lake Constance, which is the largest lake in Germany and only 10 minutes from our house. Our weather is a bit crazy because of the lake, and also because we are situated in between the Black Forest and the Swiss Alps. This picture was taken out of Jodie's office window today. The clouds are eating the mountain!! So in addition to the lovely fog, we also have topped out at 57F....while most of the US is about 45 degrees warmer than that today!

It is supposed to improve for the weekend. We are planning to attend a local wine festival on Friday, another festival at the Bodensee on Saturday (complete with fireworks), and a Medieval Festival below a castle next to our village. The castle, Hohentwiel, was built in 914 and later destroyed by Napoleon. For all of you Wikipedia fans, here's a link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohentwiel


"The mountain remains unmoved at seeming defeat by the mist"
Rabindranath Tagore, Indian Poet