A Trip to Heidelberg, Germany

Everyone who visited mentioned that they would like to take a trip to Germany if possible, so we took a day trip to Heidelberg. We had been there with the students, but it was a little rushed, so we didn't get to wander around that trip. This time, we braved the chilly weather and wandered quite a bit, in addition to a trip on the funicular, a visit to the castle, and lunch in the tasty Ritterstub in the Hotel zum Ritter St. Georg.

It took a little while to get to Heidelberg, so we started off with lunch. The Ritterstub is located in the peaked building at the end of this street:



The first time we visited Heidelberg, we walked up the mountain on what seemed like a thousand steps. This time we were smart and took the funicular:


A view of the castle from below when we first arrived in Heidelberg:


Luckily, it mostly cleared up, but there was still a haze left by the time we got to the top.





We were fascinated the first time we visited with the free-standing ruins, and we were again this time too!


A couple of group shots:



And sunset from the castle:

A couple of interesting structures on our walk around town:

There was a strange monkey sculpture near the bridge. Here, Sophie and I are posing in it:




Ian has a picture with him in front of this tower in 1988, so we recreated the shot 20 years later:


And decided to make it a family tradition with Sophie posing there too:


Sophie on the bridge with the castle in the background:


All of us in front of the castle:


We had a little time to wait until the train came, so we enjoyed some refreshments in the market--Glühwein (mulled wine), potato pancakes fresh from the fryer with apple sauce and/or garlic sauce, and candied nuts...yum!

Colmar, Revisited

During Grandpa and Grandma Wilson's visit (before my family came), we also took a day trip to Colmar, which we had visited with the fall students and had decided that they might also enjoy because of the Unterlinden Museum there. It's a museum housed in an old monastery with an eclectic collection, including Medieval art, ironworks, toys, and a respectable contemporary wing. Their claim to fame is the famous Isenheim Altarpiece. We headed to the museum as soon as we arrived. Here are some of our favorites:

This was one of Sophie's favorites ("Vierge à l'Enfant sur le croissant de lune"):




The beautiful space where the Isenheim Altarpiece is housed:



The museum closes for lunch, and so we headed out to find lunch ourselves. Surprisingly, for a small city, Colmar was packed, so we had a hard time finding a place to eat. We happened across a crepe place that had one table left for us...up in a loft. And to get the waitress's attention, we had to ring this bell (whether it really was from the Titanic or not is up for debate!):


After lunch, we wandered around the city for a bit, and were surprised to find a vibrant Christmas market and celebrations.




We also found this Santa and sleigh statue, which turned out to be Sophie's only chance to "visit" Santa this year.


And next to the sleigh was this strange statue of Santa. I think he looks like he was out partying too late the night before...

Family portraits in the picturesque Alsatian area:



While wandering around, we came across the weirdest kids ride, a horse ride. The mechanical horses went around a track, kind of like a pre-monorail ride. Sophie asked to go on it, so Mommy was elected to ride with her. And surprisingly, it was a lot of work to stay on!

We also taught Sophie how to play "Rock, Paper, Scissors" in the train. I don't think she quite gets it yet, but she had a lot of fun trying!

A Trip to Nancy, France

Today is a big day, not only because Barack Obama will become our next president, but also because I'm going to attempt to start posting Christmas pictures!

For ease's sake, I'm going to post chronologically, so this means we're going to start with Grandma and Grandpa Wilson's arrival and our trip to Nancy, France. We had been saving this day trip just for their visit since it's the center of the Art Nouveau movement in France. The day was cold and snowy and included a lot of walking, but I think that it was worth it to be able to see the Art Nouveau architecture sprinkled around town.

Sophie enjoyed the train ride with Grandma and Grandpa Wilson:


And once we arrived in Nancy, we started off in the Place Stanislas:


We decided to talk a walk around town before starting our Art Nouveau tour, and we came across a protest seemingly against Christmas trees by the forestry workers of the local mountains, the Vosges:

We also found the old city gates/tower:

And Sophie practiced her balance beam act:


After a warming lunch at a little bistro, we started the Art Nouveau hunt. Here are some of my favorites that we found:


I especially liked this doorway that looks like a ghost:


And although you can't tell, this is made of mosaic:

And a few train shots. I love this one of Ethel:

Here, Sophie is trying to teach Grandpa about her video game:


I didn't know that I asked for a couple of cheeseballs for Christmas! On the way back from Nancy, we were almost alone in a very strange car that was broken up by this little lounge area in the middle. Sophie and Daddy had some fun there:


A nicer shot of Sophie and Daddy:


Sophie's picture of me:


Sophie with Grandma Ethel:


I think that both Sophie and Grandma are tired of Grandpa taking pictures of them at this point:


Sophie, catching up on the day's news: