After getting back from Prague on Monday night, we had a quiet week. Work has been really busy for me and Matt has been really busy with school. On top of that, the kids started the 3rd quarter at school so started new classes and by the end of the week, we were so done!
Friday was my day off so I did get a chance to join some friends on a hike out in the fields of Weil Im Schonbuch. It’s only 10 minutes from the city but is mostly vast farmland, surrounding the village. Germany is awesome because opposed to banning people from walking through fields, citizens actually have “right of way” and can walk paths through farms, without the farmer’s objections (as long as you respect the livestock and crops).
We met in the village after school drop off and walked out of town, through some fields, through the woods, back through a farmer’s barnyard, and back to the cars. We clocked 5 miles in an hour and half and I headed home for lunch and a long nap.
Saturday, we needed to do some shopping. Despite all the shopping we did in Prague, we still needed to pick up some missing things for skiing, and go to Real to restock our empty cupboards.
First stop was our local mall to go to TK Maxx (yes, it’s only TJ Maxx in America and TK Maxx everywhere else) for Matt to stock up on more skinny jeans, and to go to Decathlon. Decathlon is Germany’s version of Dick’s Sporting Goods, but priced cheaper for the same quality.
We got some of the things we needed at Decathlon but the selection wasn’t very big on ski helmets. We decided to make the pilgrimage out to “Big Decathlon,” about 30 minutes away to finish up our shopping list. This Decathlon was on steroids and had just about every sporting good imagined. The store also thought of everything and had places for you to test out stuff to buy, like a rocks course for testing hiking shoes and model horses to test out riding gear. We did finally get everything we needed and stopped for lunch at a German restaurant by the store.
Afterwards, we headed back to Real to finish our shopping. Karneval, aka Mardi Gras, is coming up and this is the big costume holiday in Germany. I could not stop laughing at the American themed costumes: police, military, cowboys, and Indians. 🤣
Matt and I made one last stop to see a vendor on base for a wood carving we wanted. The vendor was there before Christmas but unable to fill our order but told us to come back when he returned in January. We are super excited for our new door sign!
Saturday night, I got together with some friends for a hot tub night. My friend has a huge, inflatable hot tub and we spent plenty of time enjoying it, their fire pit, and some wine.
We finished off the weekend on Sunday by relaxing and getting ready for the next week. This is actually the first of three weekends in a row we will be in Stuttgart. It occurred to me this week that we have not stayed here more than 10 days consecutively. We are all really interested to see how this plays out!
Gilcrests Abroad 