It's been a while, but we are still here. We appreciate everyone's encouragement in efforts to help motivate us to update our blog. We have been dogging it for a while, but after a 15 second discussion the decision has been made to catch everyone up to the minute in one post. It's going to be long, so prepare yourself.
Our attention was diverted for a couple months right after our first 
post. Not to bring an air of sadness to the page, but since the last post we found out our dog Samson had developed lymphoma. We had been treating it with chemotherapy (for dogs, which is not as harsh as that for humans) and he seemed to be doing well. It was a 12 week program and he was doing fantastic until halfway through the ninth week when he suddenly began getting very sick and then he eventually died on the 22 of December. As a side note, finding a vet was a very stressful process for us, Dr. Halsey in Lynchburg was so helpful and supportive throughout the whole process. Whenever we called, he always took our calls, even if it was just to get a little reassurance. Sam was 10 1/2 years old and up until the last two days was as playful as he was the day we got him. If you didn't get a chance to meet him, that's too bad because, for sure, you would have met one more friend.
Our other dog Cleo seems to be doing okay for the most part, and is enjoying her life in Germany where she gets to run and hunt off the leash every morning, and spends the rest of the day napping in the sunshine at home.
Back to our travels…On the first of November which was a holiday in Germany (All Saints Day) we drove to Klosters Andechs which is a Benedictine Monastery located about 25 miles southwest of Munich. Their main source of income comes from selling beer, liquors, and meats (it's for the church of course); the beer there is by far the best I've had in Bavaria up until now. I had a mass of dopplebock and Stephanie had a half liter of a cider they had. Along with the beer we had a schweinhaxe, which is a pig's knee, and a pretzel - a real Viking’s feast. If you're ever in Munich for a couple days, Andechs is definitely worth the trip. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Andechs+germany&ie=UTF8&z=12&iwloc=addr&om=0 http://www.andechs.de/englisch/kloster/index.html
We saw our first snow of Germany, in November although the locals say that snow is unusual for this area at that time of year, it snowed off and on for the better part of the month, but not amounting to much. The little we did get was beautiful though and I took the opportunity to take the dogs out and let them play in it too!
Erik and Pascal, AREVA colleagues from Lynchburg, were here for a month in the fall. We were 
lucky enough to be included on a few of their travels. On a beautiful fall afternoon we all went to Aufsess, Germany which is a town about 35 miles north of Nurnberg. More beer and more food. Here I had a pilsner and a dunkel. Both good beers - not as good as the Andechs but still much better than the standard fare of Lederer and Tucher in Nurnberg. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Aufsess+germany&ie=UTF8&z=12&iwloc=addr&om=0 http://www.aufsesser.de/
On the way back to Nurnberg, we enjoyed some beautiful scenery, stopped at an old castle, and a rode down a slide similar to a bobsled track without the ice. Pascal went down first and it sounds like he is an ace on these sled tracks. Apparently he rode them a lot when he was growing up in France. Stephanie and I rode down together, but we took it easy since this was our first rodeo.
Another afternoon we traveled to Rothenburg ob der Tauber for some more beer, food, and beautiful countryside. This seems like an interesting city to walk around in because the timber framed construction is well preserved as is the wall surrounding the city. I think this is one of the only cities where the entire wall is still intact. Since we didn't actually do a lot of sightseeing here due to the rain, we will go back in the spring. The food was good though and we made it back to our flat in Nurnberg to watch Virginia Tech beat Florida State. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Rothenburg+ob+der+Tauber,+Ansbach,+Bavaria,+Germany&ie=UTF8&z=12&iwloc=addr&om=0
(Stephanie is writing now) Thanksgiving is a non-holiday here, so Mark worked and we had Thai food for dinner. That Friday we attended the Roncalli Circus. It was great, it was an old fashioned big top circus, the costumes, music, and acts were amazing, the cotton candy (served on a wooden stick) was yummy! We celebrated our own Thanksgiving that Saturday with a duck and all the fixings.
This year I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Chriskindle Markt in Nurnberg (The oldest 
Christmas Market in Germany http://www.chirskindlemarkt.de/). I volunteered at the Market 8 different days during the month of December at the "Atlanta Tent" (Atlanta is a sister city of Nurnberg). It was a great way to get involved and absorb some of the Christmas spirit and traditions of Nurnberg. The kick off and festivities were "magical" you couldn't help but be in the Christmas mood. I wish I could have bottled the sounds, smells, and sights to share with everyone …it was amazing! With contacts made from the Chriskindle’s Markt, I am now leading a Cadets Girl Scout Troop...more to come on this one.
After the loss of Sam, just a few days before, Christmas was pretty quiet but on Christmas eve Mark and I attended the 10pm service at a beautiful Lutheran church in a small village outside of Nurnberg. Although we didn’t understand 98% we could recognize and music and got the gist of the sermon. Christmas day was spent in front of the webcam using SKYPE to open packages with the family, and visiting neighbors. The weather had been below freezing for several days in a row so on our walk that day we were able to walk and slide along the frozen ponds near our home and watch some folks playing ice hockey...another first(Cleo even joined in!).
The day after Christmas, a colleague of Mark's invited us for a night hike in Regensburg (about 100km outside of Nurnberg).
We felt very fortunate to have been invited by some of our neighbors to join them for a New Year's Eve dinner and celebration. They served a raclette dinner. Which was a first for Mark and I but very tasty. Cheese, potatoes, meats, who could ask for more? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raclette . The husband, who was born in Germany, is actually Greek and his wife is from Armenia, so during the course of dinner we were able to join with them as they celebrated with their families from various countries. The big show came at midnight when everyone...and I mean everyone across Nurnberg went outside and set off fireworks. I have never in my life seen so many fireworks, not even on the 4th of July. I happened to be on the top floor of our building just after midnight, and could see fireworks for miles. This, like the Chriskindles market, are experiences that make me stop and just say”wow I can't believe I'm here!”
(Mark is writing) The last topic to catch you up on is our first ski trip. On the last Saturday in January we went to the ski area Serfaus - Fiss - Ladis which is about a 4.5 hour drive south from Nurnberg and is located in Austria. This place was nice. The slopes were long and you 
can ski on or off the slopes. There were no lines at the lifts and we only skied one slope twice – the second time was when we were on our way home. We made this a day trip we'll probably do a couple more. There is a sporting goods store in Nurnberg and every weekend they take three buses to Austria for skiing. It's 65 euro per person and that includes everything except for lunch. On the way down they hand out a croissants, vitamin water, Red Bull, sunscreen, lip balm, magazines, newspapers, and candy. On the way back they hand out pretzels (not the rold gold kind), sausages (a little better than slim jims), beer, liquors, and a drink like Gatorade. The bus left at 4:30 am and returned at 9:30 pm. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=ladis+austria&sll=49.397569,10.621033&sspn=0.666736,1.604004&ie=UTF8&ll=47.035503,10.638885&spn=0.698227,1.604004&z=10&om=0 http://en.serfaus-fiss-ladis.at/
As we are still adjusting, things just seem to take a bit longer than we anticipate. We finally have furniture (This was quite a battle) and we always welcome visitors. So, that's it for now. More to follow soon.
After thinking about things, we didn't map where we live in Germany so you can have a perspective of how far away things are from our home. So for all you stalkers out there, here is the location of our flat: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Martin+AlbertStrasse,+Nurnberg&sll=49.465555,11.126&sspn=0.010361,0.024698&ie=UTF8&ll=49.465516,11.125867&spn=0.010361,0.024698&z=16&iwloc=addr&om=0
If you actually read all this, thanks for taking the time we hope you found some of it interesting and we hope to hear how you are doing. Please keep us posted.
Until next time! Take care!
Mark & Steph
