April and May

As you can see, this blog was started May 2nd and was only going to be for April. However, I haven't finished it until now. Many excuses, but just that I haven't sat down and finished it. One thing led to another and it just doesn't quite get done.

So, in April we went to Alanya, Turkey and Prague.

The weather started to get warmer in April. The flowers are blooming! I am not sure if it is the warmer weather or the spring festival (that took place end of April) that got people to wear their dirndls and lederhosen. We have been finding that people often wear the traditional outfits when they get dressed up. Sundays for church or a stroll in the park with the family, street festivals, birthdays, weddings, and any get together they feel like dressing up for. It always amazes me how often I do see people in Dirndls or Lederhosen. There are shops everywhere selling them.

At the beginning of April we were tired of the cold and wanted to book a place for our Easter weekend where the weather was warm and on a beach we can relax at. Turkey sounded good. It turned out to, well, be the trip that could have been better. It ended up being very short and, by the time we got home afterward, we were more stressed then when we left Munich. So much for a relaxing time. On the other hand, we got to see Turkey, a place we had not seen before. The beach was great and the sun was definitely warm! It did satisfy my two criteria for the weekend even if it wasn't the best trip we have had.
What was fascinating about going to Alanya, Turkey at this time of year was to see the construction and the work they were putting into the town to get ready for the tourist season. We learned that it is the German vacation spot to go to. We were asked constantly if we were German and when they heard English they were surprised Americans would visit Turkey. It is also typical for tourists to stay for a week, whereas we were only there for two days. It was unheard of. Then again Germans do it right and take vacations for weeks at a time not just for a weekend.
Saturday was spent on the beach and walking around the hotel. Sunday, we spent in the old town that was filled with bazaars. We took a boat trip to the caves and we hiked up to the top of the hill to the castle ruins that were there. We didn't go in but looked around. It was a long day of walking. This area was definitely the touristy place. It was funny to be one of very few tourists and see how the prices of things dropped so drastically because the demand was not there.












A week later, Chris went to Prague for a conference for a week. I joined up with him on Friday night after the conference and we spent the weekend walking around. We walked through many gardens and parks. It was a very good and relaxing weekend. It was beautiful to see Prague in spring. The flowers were out in full bloom. We took it easy and just saw the town. We didn't do any museums or shopping. We just enjoyed being in Praque. In some ways, that is the best way to feel like you have seen the city. We have done the go, go, go, but you do not get a feeling for the life there. Not that we got to really experience it in a weekend either, but you get to enjoy the trip more. Some of it helped that Chris had already been there for a week and so knew how to get around. We didn't have to do the figuring-where-we-are constantly bit. It made it an easier trip to see the city.










In May we had a very lovely person leave us. My sister-in-law Jennifer past away on May 1st after fighting skin cancer for six years. She was married to my brother and was a dear friend to me. Chris and I went back to California to be with family and go to her service and to her party. The service was very touching and the reception afterward was a Halloween party. It was her favorite holiday. The party was both a celebration of her life and birthday for it was on her birthday May 9th. She would have been 32 years old. She was a fighter and an amazing person. We will miss her dearly.

Chris and I went to Titisee, in the Black Forest to celebrate our one year anniversary. It is amazing that only a year ago was that beautiful day we said 'I do.' Well actually, 'I will' because that is how the minister asked us. Not 'do you,' but 'will you.' Chris and I were both a bit confused at the time but just went with it. You always think about saying 'I do' at your wedding, but we didn't get to say that! Just a funny little thing we remember. I had a four day weekend the weekend after our actual anniversary so we took off to the Black Forest, one place we really wanted to see. We got there and found that our reservation at the bed and breakfast wasn't confirmed. The gentlemen who owned the b&b was the mayor's son and was very nice. He drove us around to other b&bs. He found one that had a room available and did the talking for us. We ended up having a large room with a balcony and a kitchenette. It even had a sitting area with a small couch and chair. Very unheard of in Germany. It turned out very nice.

We walked around the town that night and had dinner. It started to rain and thunder. We had a pretty strong thunderstorm. The next day we went for a hike through the forest and ended up taking a train to Freiburg, a big town about an hour away. We walked around. Freiburg has a pretty large cathedral like many big towns. The town was very old. The streets were very narrow full of small shops in the old town.

Saturday, we stayed in Titisee and took a paddle boat out around the lake. We bought ourselves and anniversary gift, a cuckoo clock. What is with paper as being the one year anniversary gift? I don't quite get it, but we figure a wood clock is close enough. It is very nice and hanging in our living room now. We enjoy it. We walked around a bit and found a spot on the shore. There is not much of a beach in Titisee. We ended up like many people finding a little open spot among the trees to layout our raincoats to sit on and read our books.

Sunday, we decided to leave early and stop at some towns on the way. We stopped at Neustadt. Unfortunately, the lockers were inside the train station that was closed on Sundays. We therefore walked with out suitcase and cuckoo clock through the town. We ended up going to a garden/park and sitting there for a bit. We got an ice cream and went back to the train.

Then we stopped at Donaueschingen. It is a small town where the Donau (Danube River in English and French) starts. Two small rivers join in Donaueschingen and become the Donau. The Donau is the largest river in the Europe. We also saw the river in Vienna, Austria. It was quite larger in Vienna than Donaueschingen! They had lockers luckily, and we walked free and ate lunch. We walked through a natural garden with a lake. We found a water park with a lot of people. It was very tempting to go but we didn't have much time and our swimsuits were in our suitcase back at the trainstation. It was a very hot day and would have been fun if we had known it was there. I think everyone in the town was there. I sure didn't see many people in town when we walked through. I thought it was just because it was Sunday. We then went home on the train and followed the Donau for quite a ways.

It has been interesting to see the weather here in spring. It is warm around 70s on average. But it feels a lot hotter. For one, we have gotten used to the colder weather and two when it is warm it is more humid than in California. We have had many days where it is warm and sunny during the day and then rain in the evening and sometime thunderstorm.