Vehicles In Germany

The cars here in Germany are pretty neat. Many are small & some are so small they almost look like toys. They also have several car brands here that are different than in America, though you'll still see a few common brands seen in America scattered here & there, too.

Here is the rental car that we've been using since we arrive here - a Chevrolet Spark:

Front view:

 

My favorite small car her is the cute little Smart Car manufactured by Daimler, AG, which is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. There are tons of these cars here:

You get to really see the size of the Smart when someone is standing next to it:

Sarah fell in love with this car that we saw in the parking lot - an old Fiat 500 in powder blue:

Such a cute car:

The Mini, made by the British Motor Corporation (BMC):

Another Mini...I wish I knew the style & year of all these cars:

Love the little British flag on the side of this Mini:

A Mercedes taxi...not too unusual to see, as Mercedes is a popular brand of car here:

A very sportliches Auto (sporty car) - Mercedes:

And another style in black:

 

Audi is another popular brand here. Here is an Audi TT:

 

You will also find many VW's around here. This German auto maker has its world headquarters located in Wolfsburg, Germany, where there is also a Volkswagen AutoMuseum (VW car museum). Volkswagen means "people's car" in German.

Here is a VW Fahrschule (driving school) car:

VW also owns Porsche. Porsche SE is headquartered in Zuffenhausen, Germany, which is part of Stuttgart. There is also a Porsche museum, too.

Here is a cool Porsche Panamera:

We occasionally see Peugots, which are a French brand of cars:

 

The Citroën is another French car which is very often seen here:

 

Here's another one used for advertising:

 

A Dacia Duster, developed by the Romanian automaker Automobile Dacia, now a subsidiary of the French car maker Renault:

 

 The Twingo is another car built by Renault:

We see lots of Opels, too. This is a German automobile company headquartered out of Rüsselsheim, Germany:

A Fiat Panda. Fiat is an Italian auto manufacturer:

Here's a neat looking old motorcycle. We think it may be called a Simpson:

 

And a groovy looking camper for sale. Hey, we could have fun touring Europe with this (smile):

 

But, we settled for a brand car that is very common around here and not too expensive - a 1999 BMW 323i:

BMW is a German manufacturing company. Bayerische Motoren Werke (in English: Bavarian Motor Works) is headquartered in Munich, Germany.

Here is the back of the BMW that we purchased:

 

We are still waiting for the arrival of our Honda Odyssey that is being shipped over for us, which is supposed to arrive no later than August 18th. So, this car will come in handy while we wait. It will become Andrew's commuting car when the Honda arrives. 

Happy motoring.

~ Janet

Weil der Stadt

In the Last post, Janet mentioned that there would be "more to come..." regarding a little village we walked through the other day but in order to give our tale justice it must start the way all good stories do...

No kidding, there we were...sitting in the hotel room checking the internet every few minutes to see if there was a new rental property posted. Nope...nothing...check again in five minutes.

I began to see the walls of the room close in on me like the trash compactor scene in Star Wars...no new properties...rats.

On a whim I ventured away from the recommended listing service and immediately struck upon what at first glance looked like a real gem. The walls stopped moving.

After a few phone calls back and forth with a friendly American ex-pat who highlights on his web page having served with Elvis Presley, we had an address to go along with the online pictures. Sarah quickly Googled (can that really be a verb?!) the town and within a few short moments we had a ton of information and a destination for a little drive to...

Weil der Stadt!

The town was first mentioned in documents back in 1075 AD, but was completely destroyed during the Thirty Years' War and was subsequently rebuilt in the mid 1600's (Roughly 30 years after the Pilgrims landed) and many of the buildings from that period, to include the city fortifications and the wall that surround the original town still dominate the architecture.

 

It was a short drive from the hotel out into the rolling countryside. There was a wonderful feeling of liberation as we passed by fields of wheat and corn. After driving by the rental listing - the one that saved us from our hotel room - we headed into the town center.

 

Parking in the Märktplatz (market place) near the cathedral we set out on a walking tour that at times felt like we were headed into, or maybe out of, the pages of a story book...

 

  

 

 

The weather was great for Germany...not rainy...and we spent a pleasant few hours walking about the town and looking at the amazing structures and sights. We really enjoyed the time together, and by the time we returned, our room had returned to its' original proportions.

~Andrew~

Venturing Out

We've been out exploring a little bit, so here are a few photos of the German culture.

We visited a little Italian Eiscafe (ice cream shop) in downtown Stuttgart and had some gelatos & cappuccinos:

In Stuttgart we also visited Alnatura Super Natur Markt (a chain health food store). The fruit & vegetables were all organic (as far as we understood) & so fresh & beautiful looking:

Here are the eggs (they don't refrigerate them):

It was tricky trying to figure out what some of the foods actually were, as well as trying to read the ingredients on the labels:

One of the food items we brought home we thought was unpasteurized, non-homogenized milk in a bottle, but we found out when we opened it at home that it was actually a sort of buttermilk...not so good on cereal, but we made some tasty smoothies with it:

We ate at a local restaurant and nearby was a Spielplatz (playground) für Kinder unter 12 Jahren (for children under 12 years). The yellow sign beneath says that smoking is forbidden.

But, you can buy Zigaretten (cigarettes) from outside vending machines (just don't smoke them at the playground):

Here's another outside machine where you can buy cigarettes & prepaid Handy (cell phone) cards:

This sign means that this is a path shared by pedestrians & bicyclists only:

So, don't be too surprised if a bicyclist from behind rings his bell to alert you that he needs room to get by (this gentleman didn't, but it has happened to us before):

This is a funny photo of a portable toilet:

Here is a sneak preview of a neat town we found called Weil der Stadt. More of this 17th century historic town later:

Hope you enjoyed our little tour of the German culture. More to come later as we explore and learn on our journey through Deutschland.

~ Janet

Moving to Germany

Well, we've had a busy few months preparing for our move, but we finally arrived safely in Stuttgart, Germany. We were met by our German friend, Thomas, and a co-worker of Andrew's. Between the two of them we were able to transport all our stuff that we had brought to our temporary lodging.

It's amazing how smoothly everything has gone so far & what an easy transition it has been for us. The only explanation we have is that we know so many of our friends & family have been praying for us throughout this whole journey, and because of this, God has been blessing us by heeding these prayers and granting us favor each step of the way. 

We are not saying that there weren't challenges along the way: a downpour on a bunch of our boxes that were outside awaiting loading; a water leak in a closet ceiling discovered right before we left; realizing that one of the workers who packed up our kitchen items needed some extra training in packing (we ended up having to repack several of our boxes because of this); our house still having not sold, etc. It can sometimes be easy to fall into frustration or anxiousness about the unexpected things that happen in life. We have come to realize, though, that we need to always keep the perspective that God is in control, no matter what happens. And if we remember to turn to Him during our trials, He will gentle our hearts with peace:

"...do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ"  Philippians 4:6,7

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Here are some pictures of our journey thus far:

Here are a few of our boxes lined up along the driveway ready to be loaded into wooden crates on the moving truck. The front part of the truck had already been loaded with our household goods. When we saw all our things packed up into boxes it felt like we owned too much stuff even though we are constantly trying to pare down. We are very "rich" compared to many in this world.

 

We were amazed that all the items we were taking with us onto the airplane actually fit into our van. We had several Rubber Maid totes in which we drilled holes through the top & bottom edges. We then slipped zip ties through the holes to secure the items in each box. This has worked well for us in the past to securely transport our stuff (we put extra zip ties in a bag inside each box in case airport security needed to inspect any of the boxes, which they did). 

Everyone (minus the one guy with the hat on) in this photo, yes, including Sarah, is using some sort of electronic media...laptops, iPads, electronic books, smartphones. It looked strange to me...everyone in their own little world, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings, captivated by electronic media yet disconnected from each other.

A bunch of people connecting to some sort of electronic media hub at Newark airport. 

This is something I've never seen before...a "Mediation Room" at Newark airport. When I peeked in through the glass, it looked like it had some sort of chapel, along with other "mediation" areas. I'm guessing it accommodates all sorts of religions. I think it has been awhile since I've been to the airport.

Each seat on the airplane had a small media display screen built into the seat in front in which you could watch movies, listen to music, play games & such, but could also follow the flight path that we were taking. The flight pattern was continually updated. It was fun to follow. Here are a few screen shots. Here we are flying over the UK:

A few more screen shots from onboard the plane:

  

  
Flying into Stuttgart, Germany:

As we came in for landing, we were surrounded by farm land. It looked like we were going to land in a field.

Our German friend, Thomas, thought Andrew was just coming for a short business trip to Germany. What a surprise to him when he found out the three of us were all there at the airport in Stuttgart & we were staying for 3 years!

 Here is a parking sign in Germany. We have to learn what signs like this mean:

More signs in German:
 

More to come later.

~ Janet