Things That Make Germany Awesome

Since I've been feeling a tad bit homesick lately, I've decided to focus on the positive and write a bit about the things that make living in Germany such a great experience in the hopes of balancing out the negative energy from my last entry. So here goes....

Things That Make Germany Awesome:

1. Matt is here
This is much better than than this time last year, when he was half a world--literally--away.

2. Flammkuchen
Of course, I would put something food-related as number 2. Flammkuchen is one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. It's basically a flat bread pizza topped with creme fraiche, onion, and bacon. Fantastic!

image courtesy of Google images

3. Rolladen: The coolest windows ever.
You wish you had these windows! More on this to come. (Yes, I'm planning to write an entire blog entry on these things.)

4. Wine
We live in the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz, which produces the vast majority of Germany's wine. Now I'm not a wine expert, but I can say that German wine is generally sweeter than American wine, which is probably why I like it so much.

5. Castles (Die Schlösser)
Where else but in Germany can you drive down the road to your friendly neighborhood castle? There seem to be castles everywhere; some fully intact, some in ruins, all beautiful.

Burg Rheinstein

6. Old stuff
Our village was founded in 1300. That means it's old. There are houses around the corner from us that have probably been standing for over 200 years. Our house was built in 1997, so it's a baby compared to a lot of the other buildings around here. Every time I walk up the cobblestone street near our house I can't help but wonder how old the stones are and how many different people have walked there.

7. Four Seasons
I have never lived in a place that experiences all four seasons. In Texas and Louisiana there is summer, summer, summer, and fall. But here in Germany we seem to get summer, fall, winter, and spring. I love that. And getting to see leaves change colors in fall for the first time in life was really amazing. In a matters of weeks, or maybe even days, it's going to snow, and that will be a while new experience.

This isn't the greatest picture of the fall leaves, but I just loved this little group of yellow trees on the banks of the Rhein at the beginning of October.

8. Bakeries (Die Bäckereien)
German bakeries are great. I wish I knew more about what all the different treats are that they offer, but I don't. You just have to come visit us so we can take you to Bäckerei Schmitt, just around the corner from our house.

So that's going to be all for now. There are lots of things that I know I could add to this list, but just haven't experienced yet. For example, Christmas Markets. How could Christmas Markets not be awesome, right? But I haven't actually been to one, so writing about that will have to wait. I think that this list is something that will have to be expanded over time as I experience more of life in Germany.