Autostadt

Here are some photos of our visit to Autostadt

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Last Week of Holidays

Last Week of Holidays

Last weekend was a quiet one at home. On Sunday, Gerard attempted a lamb on the Weber. What a disaster!!!! My kitchen reeked of woodsmoke for hours!!!
On Monday, Marcelle brought her Mom and Dad along for a visit. It was nice to meet the people you have heard about and put faces to their names. Gerard brought Lara home from Kindergarten and was able to join us for lunch. Then after tea and milk tart, Marcelle and her folks left to visit the Aldstadt of Alsfeld.
On Tuesday morning I picked Heidi up and brought her back home to have a look through Lara's baby things. Heidi is going to New Zealand on the 12 November to be with her daughter while she has her first baby. Zelda also joined us for a cup of coffee and a catch up of our last week.
Gerard took Wednesday and Thursday off to spend two days with the kids before their holiday finished. We decided to visit Autostadt in Wolfsburg. We left Frankie in the playroom, hoping that she would be alright for one night on her own. We travelled up to Einbeck where we had lunch with Pamela and Klaus. It was really nice to see them again but poor Pamela had had bad news about her father on the weekend. He had suffered a stroke.
After our visit with them, we hit the road for Wolfsburg vacinity. We had heard about a bed and breakfast in Walbeck which was about 35kms away, and decided that we would overnight there. It was pleasant and comfortable but the quoted price was "upped" by 20 euros due to a linen charge for the children!!!!!
The next morning, after breakfast, we left for Autostadt. What an amazing place.
We spent 6 hours there and still had not seen everything. The kids had a wonderful time and got to do their "drivers licence" and have a ride in a simulator which made their day. We left Autostadt at about 4.30pm and only got home at 8.00pm after a stop at Burger King.
Gerard went back to work on Friday. Lara wanted to get back to Kindergarten as well. I visited Heidi in the morning and then tried to do a bit of housework in the afternoon.
All the South African's met at the Schwalbenest Hotel on Friday night to meet Marcelle's folks and also say goodbye, as they were leaving Germany on Sunday.
A lovely evening was had by all.
The weekend was uneventful - just TV viewing on Saturday night being a must!!! X-factor is on and we are glued to the screen. The boys were very disappointed as Robbie Williams was on, on the German channel and they wanted to watch that.
Gerard's mom gave us a wake up call this morning at 8.00am. In S.A. it was nine o'clock but today we turned our clocks back an hour. We are now officially in Winter and on daylight saving!!!
Gerard took the kids for a swim at the Alsfeld pool this afternoon. The boys needed to swim 50 metres and have their time recorded - this to be given to their Athletics teacher on Wednesday.
Holidays are over and it's back to normal in the morning!!! draft by Carols Chat 12:28 PM Delete

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My life in Germany

My life turned upside down in the decision that my husband and I both made to leave our wonderful country South Africa for Germany in Europe.What was once a normal, run of the mill type lifestyle in S.A. was now to be changed forever.We arrived in Germany and moved into a 3 family house. That on it's own was totally different to our normal way of life. But looking back now can only see how beneficial it was to our family. We learnt so many German customs and of course the language, due to the family who lived upstairs. They took us under their wing and introduced us into many areas of "German life" that we would have struggled with otherwise.When moving to a new country, one is thrown curve balls continuously and one learns something new on a daily basis.We arrived on the 6 July 2001 and my two little boys started Kindergarten after the summer holidays. I had many lonely moments and found it very difficult to "become" a housewife.After spending two months in Germany, I found out that I was preganant - what a shock!!!German Gynaecologists was the first curve ball that had come my way. The medical profession in Germany is totally different to the one we were accustomed to in S.A. and one that I can't come to terms with. There are some excellent doctors etc. here but due to the lack of privacy and patient\doctor relations, I would rather steer clear of!!!!!!My daughter was therefore born in S.A. and was brought into the world by my own doctor etc.We have been here for 5 years now and every year that passes seems to make living here a bit easier.We have met many people here, some of whom have become good friends, and with them, have had some really fun experiences.Travelling (one of my passions in life) has become a reality for us. Living in Germany had made travelling around Europe just so much easier and we are clocking up some mileage!! We bought our own home 2 years ago and this has also improved our whole quality of life. We have our privacy back and are getting down to the living in Germany on our own now. Our "German family" and us are still good friends and we spend our birthdays and Christmas's together.Even though we have visited S.A. on a number of occassions, this is the first Christmas together with our family in S.A. for the past 6 years. We have started our count down already. Both my husband's mother and my father are growing old and this will be a memorable Christmas for my children. Roll on 22 December 2006.
Posted by Carol's Corner at 11:48 AM

Autumn Holidays

The boys have been on school holidays since Friday 13 October. That also means that Mom is on holiday. I have had the opportunity of lying in most mornings. Hubby brings me a cup of coffee along with the morning newspaper. When the kids start moving around, I then get up and start my day.
We left for Koln on Friday afternoon. We got to Venetia and Patrick after a long delayed journey due to traffic jams and roadworks. On Saturday morning, after a lovely breakfast, Gerard, Lara and I headed for the City centre. I cannot pass up the possibility of shopping at the English Shop. In the afternoon we followed Venetia and Patrick to Bruhl where we were meeting up with another South African couple, Penny and Michael. Penny is a South African married to a German.
They had invited other S.African people along to this lunch and it turned out to be a very interesting afternoon. Barry (an English guy) married to Leigh (ex S.A.) is a manager for EMI records and Leigh was a base guitarist for the all girl group Clout. Penny's friend of 25 years, Louise, was also there. She is a stylist living in Kensington London.
Penny's kids and ours got on well together and a great afternoon was had by all.
Sunday morning, we had a slow morning and after breakfast, allowed the kids to go to the Playground and soccer field which borders on Venetia's house.
We had a lovely weekend in Koln with our friends.
The morning temp on Monday the 16th was a really chilly 1 degree. A decision was made to put the underfloor heating on from that night. We have "Nachtspeise" which is a night rate on our electricity. This is a cheaper rate than the normal daily rate. Therefore our electrical household appliances all start work at 10.00pm. I start the dishwasher then, as well as the washing machine.
I had friends over for tea on Tuesday morning and Gerard left for England in the afternoon.
Robert's friend got to spend the rest of the week with us.
On Wednesday I took the kids to movies. Went to see Cars which turned out to be a really cute movie (even in German).
Gerard got home on Friday evening late. There had been numerous problems on the highway, so he had driven via Wurzburg and then Fulda to get here. Gerard spoilt me by bringing me the Live 8 DVD which I had tried to get him for his birthday!!!!
The weather had warmed up again and the mornings weren't as frosty as at the beginning of the week.
In fact, we had a week of really good weather - beautiful sun filled days.