Bailey - Europeans - Winter 2015

One of the neat opportunities that the Department of Defense Schools gives kids living overseas and playing sports here, is what they call "Europeans". It is actually quite neat. Kids either fly in or come by bus from as far away as; Bahrain, Turkey, Italy, England, and Spain. It is quite a big event and is even televised on the American Station here. There are 3 different divisions (based on the size of the school), and they compete against the other schools of similar size. Bailey's school is in the biggest division, which usually means they are the tougher schools too.  All of the schools traveled to Wiesbaden, Germany for a week of competition with both the Championship games and final Cheering events taking place on Saturday. Bailey had a fantastic time, and while her Cheering squad did not place in the top 3, I know that these are the experiences that she will always remember. She had a great team too - which makes it especially fun! The kids got to spend a week; in a hotel with friends, meeting up with other friends that they know after living here for so long, and making new friends too. It is kind of like one big reunion for the kids (and the parents). I got to catch up with some of our old friends that had moved  to Italy too - really a great experience!

They have"Europeans" for qualifiers of each sports Season (potentially, you could miss almost 3 weeks a year of school for this -  definitely adds fun to the year!!)

The American and German Flag

All of the teams competed Saturday morning (after Cheering for the Basketball games all week)

Bailey's team getting ready for their performance

At the end - a group shot (we took video instead of taking pictures of their actual performance - I am hoping to get some photos soon :-)

It is definitely a memorable experience for the kids!

Bamberg

Just in case you've forgotten how beautiful Bamberg is (I am totally joking, but really - I am amazed at how much I love this town each time I am there) I had to share a few photos from our week there. We really had a couple of beautiful days (beautiful for Germany in February anyway :-)).

On the way there, we weren't sure what the weather would hold (it is amazing how quickly the weather changes in Germany. You can drive 15 minutes and have snow or none at all!

This was so funny...They had a flash mob in the Maxplatz (City Square). So cute!! I took this at a department store, looking down into the square...

So pretty!!! (I know I have posted at least three thousand of this same picture, but each time I take a new one - it makes me smile :-)

Not a cloud in the sky!!

The Regnitz River

The Old Rathaus (old city hall)

St. Michaels (taken from in front of Schlenkerla)

And this is what I love most about Bamberg - the cute little things that you see all of the time:-)

Skiing in Thuringen

Mia and I went with our friends skiing one day at a small ski place in Thuringen (Former East Germany). There were 9 of us, and I was a bit worried that the different ski levels would be hard, but it was perfect! Such a fun day!!

A  photo on the Chairlift :-)

I have such fond memories of skiing with my friend as a kid - it was so nice to see Mia and her friend skiing together.So cute!!

Not too much snow - but just enough!

Such a fun day!

Taking a break , but very happy!!!

Auf Wiedersehen! Can't wait to go again!

Fasching Parades

We usually go to 2 of the Parades here. One is in Memmelsdorf (which is a small village) and one is in Bamberg (in the city). It is so funny though, because we LOVE the Memmelsdorf one the best. The kids end up with bags full of treats and Bryan ends up with a few Beers too (they just hand out Beer and Prosecco from many of the Floats - only in Germany!!!). The costumes are so creative and each float is so well thought out. Lots of fun!!

Notice the "Grand Poobaas" in the background :-) They remind me of Richi Cunningham's father on Happy Days :-)

LOTS of people line the streets for this village parade

This was one of the funniest. Their shoes were these springy things (I had never seen them before)

So funny!

These ladies kept their costumes simple with the "Trash" theme

Lots of Tractors with floats

And a few Political Floats (this one was kind of interesting - they are still deciding what to do with all of the housing and buildings where the Base was - this is in protest of the possibility of tearing some of the buildings down.)

Oh yes - and they even hand out Carrots, Bananas, and Bread  (as well as Beer and Prosecco :-)). Gotta keep it healthy!

Beer Fresh from the Keg!

This one is really funny too. In Germany, Beer comes in Plastic Crates that are completely reusable (not in cardboard boxes). This was a "crate of beer" filled with people dressed up as Beer Bottles (so funny!)

And Prosecco too!

And Bayern Munchen (Munich's Soccer Team) has to be represented!!!

And the Ski Bar too!

It really is a lot of fun!!!

Fasching Ferien

Europe just celebrated Fasching or as some countries call it, Carnival or as others call it, Mardi Gras. The best part is that with "Fasching" comes "Fasching Ferien" otherwise known as Winter Break. Mia had the week off last week, so she and I went to Bamberg and had a great time visiting friends. Bailey went to Wiesbaden for the week with her Cheerleading team for "Europeans" (I'll explain later in another post), and poor Camden had school and Bryan had work. They took the day off Friday though and we all traveled to Frankfurt together and then on to Wiesbasden for Bailey's Final Competition. It was such a nice week, and I think we were all dreading going back to "normal" this week :-). I have lots of pictures to post, but will begin with these two from before vacation...

Mia proudly built "snowy" the Snowman in our back yard

And a week later, Snowy died :-(. Unlike my parents, who have been hammered with snow (about 5 feet total so far this year). Our snow comes and goes. Poor snowy didn't stand a chance!

Winter

It seems like this is the awkward time of year between the excitement of the Holidays and the anticipation of the Spring. We have had quite a bit of Snow (which I love, but Bryan doesn't so much). The best thing is that here, we will get snow and then it will all melt and then it will snow again... To me it is functions beautifully :-).  Luckily too, we have no plowing or shoveling responsibilities, so we can really just enjoy it!

I haven't posted much lately. The kids are all busy with school and sports (Camden is taking the Winter off , although he has been running with us a bit, which has been so nice). Bailey is Cheering for basketball and Mia is playing Tennis. The Semester just finished for Bailey and Camden (which is always a big relief). They both took a fairly heavy load this Semester with AP and Honors classes for Bailey and 2 High School Classes for Camden. It is so nice for them to be halfway done :-). Mia just received her "Middle of the year report card thingy", which is extremely important in 4th grade. I am super proud of her, but also there is a big stress to keep up the grades until the end of the year. I LOVE the German school system, but it also is very stressful on the kids (because the tests are hard, and only tests count toward your grade - which means you learn that you really have to study at an early age). Depending on the grades in 4th grade, students will go to 3 different types of schools next year for 5th grade - yes - quite stressful! . As a side note too, I passed my German Test - which I am very happy about. It doesn't mean too much with regard to every day life, but it is nice to have the B1 language certificate and also to have learned so much.

Mia and I walk to school each morning - it has been so fun walking in the snow!

Not too much snow, but just enough to make it fun (and pretty)

You can see all of the dog tracks from people that still have to walk their dogs - makes us smile each day

Mia had fun building a snow man in our little yard.

This is "Snowy" the Snowman. Adorable!!! Doesn't he look like a happy little fella :-)

Marianske Lazne (Marienbad) Czech

 My friend and I went away last weekend to a famous European Spa town in the Bohemian Region of Czech Republic. Marienske Lazne is the name of the town in Czech, but in German it is called Marienbad (Whenever you have "bad" in the name of a German town it means "bath" and is known for the Natural Springs there.  Marienbad is famous for its healing waters and many famous people have visited over the years (including King Edward VII, Nicholas II (the Russian Czar), Mark Twain etc.). It is an adorable little city with a population of about 15,000. It was Communist up until the wall came down, and it still seems like it is a city stuck in time - such a neat experience (for ex. maybe a little bit like Cuba). You can almost picture the streets filled with old cars and ladies in fur coats and Russian Hats. It is also near the area where the Headquarters of General Pattons 3rd Army was during World War II).

One great thing too is that it is only a little over an hour from our house and is amazingly inexpensive for a spa town. Almost every building in the town is a hotel/spa and they offer packages with food, pool, steam room, saunas, and spa services. They give Spa Robes and slippers and most everyone in the Hotel just walks around in a robe (so funny). The city itself has 7 different types of springs with totally different types of water. The different waters contain different minerals (hence the healing part). They have a Pavilion where you can test the different waters for free. The locals come and fill up their water bottles too (which for me was quite comforting because smelling and tasting some of the different waters made you question the safety of it - but to see the locals drinking it gave much comfort :-). As usual, the weather was less than stellar (we did see a little sun though on the last day), Still a great time! 

All of the Hotels looked similar - this one reminded me of Schonbrunn in Vienna.

Here is the same building as above - Gorgeous!

The small city/town is built around a beautiful park.

It is famous for this giant wafer called Oplatky. We tried some at a cafe one day - warmed, with coffee (it was delicious!)

the sun peaked out a little... Not too much though

In the park was a small monument dedicated to General Patton and his Army 

Beautiful old architecture

This is the Pavilion where you can test the different healing waters...

This was filled with bubbling water - straight from the Spring..

You could buy these fancy cups for testing or just bring a water bottle of your own...

Each sink had warm and cold water from the different springs. There was one that had sulfur (not sure if you have ever smelled sulfur, but it is not the best smelling thing in the world. It was funny to see people's reactions after testing the sulfer water :-).   

An old Russian Orthodox Church (we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but it so much different than the Catholic Churches here...

This is a monument representing each of the 7 types of spring water and their mineral benefits...

They had horse and carriages and also an outdoor skating rink (although it was too warm to skate)

And a nice memorial for the Paris Victims...

This was really funny -we went for a run one morning and there was no snow to be seen. When we got to the top of the kill and turned a corner, there was a small little ski resort !

It was small, but had 3 lifts - perfect for kids!!!

The Spa Robes waiting for us!

 

I thought this building was kind of neat. It looks as though it hasn't been quite renovated up to par yet (that is what I meant by a city stuck in time - although most of the Spas were very modern)