Found a house!

Well we found a house on Monday. We got very lucky. It is hard to find housing in Leimen, especially with everything we wanted in a place. Shaun saw a listing in the paper and we got to look at the place before it was even listed through the housing office. It has 4 bedrooms, a dishwasher, a little backyard, garden and patio area, garage and perfect amount of space. We are also only 2 min. from the plaza in Leimen and to streetcar access. We couldn't have asked for more and are so excited! Shaun is signing the lease today and we should be moving in next weekend. Hopefully our furniture arrives by then! We should hopefully have internet and phone hooked up soon too so I can post more pictures. I just can't wait to finally be settled!!!

Life in Germany seems to be great. Last weekend we went to the Heidelberg Castle and Luisen Park. I'll have to blog more about that later though!

First week in Germany

The first week in Germany has been exciting. The first few days were rough because of jet lag. Poor Lexi was all out of sorts and was quite grumpy. Thank God she is back to her normal self. We are living in a temporary apartment in Leimen, which is maybe 10 minutes from downtown Heidelberg. We got lucky because our friends live only a few blocks from us and are letting us use their internet. There is a plaza within walking distance of us that has restaurants and shops. (the image above is the plaza) We are also only minutes from the street car. It’s a quaint little town and I think it’s where we want to live.

We already have a favorite restaurant, Brauhouse (pronounced brow house, not “bra” house like I kept calling it). We’ve eaten there 3 times in the last week and I’ve gained 1lb as a result. They speak English and are very friendly. Actually most people here speak English, which makes life a little easier. Shaun and I have been using Rosetta stone though, so hopefully we are billingual sooner rather than later.

Over the weekend Dan and Diane took us up north to Ramstein a.k.a “little America” via the famous autobahn. It is incredibly narrow in some places and we were cruising at about 115mph. Ramstein is cool because it’s sorta like going back to the U.S. They have a Chili’s on base and other American type stores and everyone speaks English. It'll be a nice "home away from home" if we ever feel like we need it.

Last Thursday we went and looked at a few houses. We did find a house we love, but it’s just a little further out then we would like. It sucks because we really are in love with the house, but it’s not within walking distance to anything…not even the street car. Which means I’d also have to get a car out here eventually. So I’m not sure where we will end up. We are going to look at some more homes this week too.

Other than the expected chaos, life is great. We love Germany more than we thought we would. Hopefully the novelty doesn’t wear off. I don’t see how it possibly could though. The next month we have a lot going on. Not only are will we be moving into our new German home, next month is also Lexi and Shaun’s birthdays. I found out they have a Legoland in Germany, so we might take Lexi there. Shaun really wants to go to Paris for his birthday, but we’ll have to see how things go. I’m really looking forward to the last “burning of the castle” of the year. A few times a year they light up the castle and have a firework show for the town. We are thinking of taking a boat ride on the river to watch. Whether it’s a jazz or wine festival or just going to the market, there is always so many fun things to do here.