It's Always Sunny in Pforzheim

Reading the news online this morning, I found this:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/02/07/fox_news_expert_on_solar_energy_germany_gets_a_lot_more_sun_than_we_do_video.html


I had a good laugh about this one. Solar power works in Germany, because Germany gets more sun than the U.S.! On a link to the article, one German identified as 3Nerd quipped, "As a German I must say I'm sorry for my fellow Americans. You must live in complete darkness." 

I started thinking, though, that I may be giving the wrong impression on my blog, since nearly all of my pictures are of sunny Germany. Germany is a beautiful country, and I like to post pictures that show it in a, eh, good light, but the truth is, the sky can be overcast and eerily gray an awful lot of the time.  So, here are a few of the many photos that didn't make the cut before:

above, Frankfurt in August; below, Frankfurt in April

 

 

The sun was trying to come out in September for the Rhine River tour, and it did--for a while. There was, however, no chance for sun in Hamburg in November.

 

 

 

 downtown Berchtesgaden just before the rain (October)

beautiful Passau through the mist (October)

I could go on (and on), but I think you get the idea.

Schneeflöckchen, Weissröckchen

Coming from an area that sees an inch of snow a decade, I wanted so badly to have snow during my first winter in Germany.  Of course, I barely saw any.  This December, though, my wish came true just in time for my Texan visitors. What better place to have snow than in picturesque Rothenburg ob der Tauber?

Mom and me in Rothenburg

  

We saw some big flakes at the Christmas market there, but by the time we got to Bamberg the following day, it had almost all melted.



Bamberg Altstadt

  
It didn't matter, though, because just a few short days later we have lots of snow right here outside of my window!

view from my window at 4:30 pm--it's still snowing!

Seasons

It finally snowed this morning! It's not much by German standards, but it's enough to cover the ground and to make me feel that winter has arrived.

Seeing true changes in seasons is a new thing for this Texas girl.

view from the balcony in August

November

January

I love fresh snow!  I quickly took some pictures this morning because I knew the snow wouldn't last.  On my walk to the grocery store, it started raining.  On the way back, then, I carried groceries uphill for half a mile in the snow while it rained. Jealous? ;)

Hundewetter!

Hundewetter = foul weather
[literal translation: dog weather]

This morning it was 35°F--with a wind chill of 28°F--and it's only mid-October! It may not be Hundewetter yet (the sun was out), but it definitely gives this Texas girl a chill.  All week long I have heard discussions about the weather that begin with "Ohhhh, just you wait! Last year it was horrible. Did you hear about....". 

Speaking of Hunde...you know I'd like to have Tostitos (along with salsa, peanut butter, and warm temperatures), but what do I really miss from home?  Along with my family and friends, of course, what I miss most is my dog.  I decided to leave Allie in Texas for several reasons, one being that I wasn't sure what it would be like for her here (I travel on days off, she hates rain, I'd have to check her on the plane, etc...), and another was that I knew she would be very well loved and cared for by my family in Texas.




Allie at the front door when I left home

 

I still miss Allie, though, and I blame the Germans for that, because I can't seem to go anywhere without seeing them with their dogs! They take them everywhere...

Yes, that is a dog in there!

sightseeing with the family on vacation...

to the mall...

                                                                              on the train...

out to dinner...

I've also seen them inside the city hall and the farmers market, and I've been told they've been known to frequent some bars.  The only place it seems that dogs are not welcome is at the grocery store, where they are left near the front door and calmly wait for their owners.  This, of course, makes me think of another sticking point about bringing my dog over to Germany:  she and I both would have to undergo some serious training before that could happen...German dogs are some of the best behaved dogs I have ever seen!

I probably shouldn't have...

...but it's already October 1, and who knows how many more days with temperatures over 70°F we'll have? So, I celebrated the sun the same way so many Germans do: with ice cream. Not just a scoop or two, either. I had Spaghetti Eis: vanilla ice cream, strawberry sauce, and coconut shavings on top.



I didn't eat the whole thing. Honest. :)