welcome to z.zeitgeist!
This space is dedicated to to documenting our adventures living in Germany. We won't be here for long, but plan to make the most of our time while we are here!
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Well, we are still on a lock down here in Germany. The rules are confusing and seem to change often. It’s hard to not feel jealous watching things open up in the US!
BUT warmer weather makes quick day trips more enjoyable. In the last couple months, we’ve explored Frankfurt, Opel Zoo, Michelstadt, and Heidelberg! We’re anxious to travel, but haven’t run out of things to do close to home. Fingers crossed outdoor attractions can stay open!
Another recent highlight, is that our local ice cream shop has reopened for the season. We’ve made it a weekly tradition to get an ice cream cone. We are working our way through the flavors. Right now, S.’s favorite is cherry cheesecake. Z. alternates between cappuccino and cookie. All solid choices!
I love that I am getting a chance to live in a city again. It reminds me of living in Lincoln Square when S. was a baby. Being able to walk a half block to ice cream hasn’t gotten old yet. S. did tell me the other day she wishes she lived in a REAL neighborhood. Ha! I had to ask what she meant. “You know, like with JUST houses and backyards.” S. and Z. both miss elements of suburban life (I miss our garage!), but our proximity to an ice cream shop is a perk of city life they enjoy!
I plan to dedicate another full post to our neighborhood, but I wanted to use THIS post to highlight some of our recent adventures.
A Few of Our Favorite Recent Adventures:
First up, Opel Zoo!
I reserved tickets for the zoo for S.’s birthday. They just opened up zoos, castles, and gardens. You have to reserve tickets in advance, but I’ll take it! It was really fun to get out and about. Something unique about Opel Zoo is that you can bring or purchase bags of carrots to feed the animals. The girls got to feed goats, sheep, donkeys, deers, and camels.
The playground was still closed and it was a little too cold for some of the animals; but they girls enjoyed it. They could have probably parked themselves near the baby goats and been happy for hours!
Time for Heidelberg! Maybe our favorite German city so far?
Heidelberg had been on our list since we arrived. It is about 45 min. away and a university town. There is an amazing castle there. It requires a hike, but once you make it to the top you have a great view of the city. We headed there on a Sunday, expecting to just check out the castle. We were pleasantly surprised by a really bustling scene!
Heidelberg offered up a plethora of treat options, coffee shops, and lots of people watching. We will definitely be back. It helped that this was one of the first really nice days in awhile. It felt REALLY good to take advantage of a beautiful day.
We started our adventure with exploring Heidelberg Castle. Once we made the hike to the top, we were able to get tickets to explore the castle grounds. It is hard to wrap your head around how old Europe is! It’s crazy. The girls don’t care, but Zech and I are constantly reading off dates to one another!
After making our way back down, we rewarded the girls with a waffle topped in ice cream.
Our track record for getting exactly what we want when we order food is about 50/50. It keeps things interesting! The girls had no complaints. We finished the day with a walk across the bridge before meandering back to our car.
It was a great afternoon!
Time for Michelstadt!
Michelstadt came up in my various internet searches as one of the towns within driving distance that was worth a visit. We visited here on a Sunday, which was maybe a mistake. Unlike Heidelberg, NOTHING was open. Which is more typical for German cities. We found one lone ice cream shop, aka “lunch”.
Michelstadt is known for having well preserved timber-framed buildings. The city had been decorated for Easter which was fun. We did find a cute playground which is always a win!
After walking around Michelstadt, we went on a hunt for some Roman ruins! We followed some loose directions and winded through a few more small towns. We ended up reaching a dead-end where the road turned into a biking path. We pulled the car over and walked the rest of the way. It felt a little strange… like I would think Roman ruins would have a dedicated parking lot or signs.
BUT after a quick hike, we found the remains of a Roman bath in the middle of a field! No fence, just completely open to climb on and explore. Crazy that the Roman empire expanded up to Germany at one point, and even crazier that the Roman army prioritized building a full roman bath spa experience for it’s soldiers.
Off to Frankfurt
Frankfurt is only 20 minutes or so away from where we live. We were overdue for a trip into the city to explore. Frankfurt definitely feels more like a big city than Wiesbaden. We were pleasantly surprised by all the green space! There is a connected path of parks that run through a lot of the city.
Frankfurt recently put in place a city wide mask ordinance, even outdoors. We were unaware of this before we arrived. As soon as we started walking, we noticed police everywhere.
We weren’t quite sure if it was just to enforce mask wearing or if there was something else going on we didn’t know about. Definitely a little unsettling!
We started the afternoon at a playground. German playgrounds continue to deliver! This one had a crazy spinning thing that kids sat on, it looked like a carnival ride.
After that, we walked through the city towards the historic town square. Both girls noticed all the statues. Many naked. Not something you see everyday in the US.
The town square leads to the Main river and a beautiful river walk. We had packed some snacks and found a spot to eat. Along the way, Zech also found a focaccia spot. He tried to buy some bread, and walked away with a panini. Ha! It was still delicious.
We walked through the parks back to our car. I can see us going back often!
Looking through my pictures, made me feel MUCH better about the past few months. We have managed to explore even with the current rules in place. Looking back at the memories we’ve made helps to put things in perspective.
The girls have eight weeks of school left, which seems impossible. What a strange year! We are ready to officially lose the winter gear and let the summer fun begin. We are also counting down to our trip home. Who would have thought that our first big trip in Germany would be BACK to the US? Regardless, we are excited for family time, shopping (all stores outside of grocery and drug stores are still closed here), and a little break from not being able to understand ANY of the language around us.
Cheers to more adventures!
Well, just days after I published my last post, Germany went into a shut down. SO not a whole lot to report. No more adventures for us for awhile! The good news is that there is still a lot to see around Wiesbaden and in our neighborhood. The weather here has been more mild than we’re used to. We have been able to get outside most days. Which has been amazing!
The kids transitioned from in-person to virtual school in mid-December. So our holiday season consisted of lots of slow mornings and family time. We came up with a mini-bucket list of things we wanted to do to keep things fun. We REALLY missed our families. I tried to remind myself that everyone’s holiday season looked different this year.
Germany is pretty magical around the holidays. HOPING that next year we will get to experience the Christmas markets in all their glory!
Here are a few highlights (and low points!) of our holiday season:
Outdoor Celebrating
Gluhwein stands are everywhere around the holidays! People dress for the weather, buy a glass, and enjoy outside. At some point in December outdoor drinking was banned, but up until then the parks and paths were full of people enjoying their warm wine. Something I really love about living here is how much people enjoy being outside in ALL types of weather. We never tried a glass, but just being around other people enjoying definitely felt festive!
One of the things we did before Christmas was head downtown and look at the lights. We packed hot chocolate and walked around the Mitte. The Mitte is the town center. A large portion of it is blocked off to traffic. Winding streets, church bells, and amazing people watching. It is everything I thought Europe would be! It is about a 15 min. drive from where we live AND we’ve found a go-to free parking spot.
After we walked around, Zech surprised the girls with nutella crepes. All the shopping was closed, but there were several food stands sprinkled throughout the area. Spiced nuts, gluhwien, and other treats that I am assuming are sold at the Christmas markets. It made me SO excited to experience the real deal.
Both girls were a little concerned about the crowds and noise. They hadn’t been out in awhile and for sure hadn’t been out at night. Just an interesting side-effect of staying at home! The crepes helped them to enjoy themselves a little more.
Cookies and Being Cozy
We baked cookies a few times. We even baked cookies on zoom with cousins! The girls are pretty good helpers. Our kitchen is nice… but it is not really set up for more than one person to be cooking at a time. We had to get a little creative and use our kitchen table as a work station. The clean up after baking is always more intense than I remember. How does flour get everywhere?!
We also made crafts for family. The girls (and me!) love a good project. This one turned out OK. Ha! Required a little gorilla glue to get to the finish line. Also, craft stores aren’t really a thing here. So we were working with what we had on hand.
Shipping presents home and picking up packages was also a big part of our season. It was pretty fun to see our tree fill up! We are very thankful our families were willing to put in the extra effort to get things here. I think we all learned a lot! I learned my deadline for shipping items should be Thanksgiving. Which means my shopping deadline should be early Nov. Which means if I want thoughtful gifts from Germany, I should basically be shopping all year round.
Also if you shop online from stores IN Germany, you can avoid long shipping times. My mom and I didn’t even think of this until it was too late. Ha! Zech and his mom were on it. We had lots of fun opening boxes and working backwards to figure out who sent what.
We did a little shopping here (before the complete shut down) and most of our shopping online. We were able to find some fun German chocolates and an AWESOME toy store. But definitely wanting to spend more time on thoughtful gifts next year. This will also be easier in a post-Covid world.
Like a lot of people, we decorated a little early this year. We did ship a box of Christmas decorations with our things. All of our ornaments, stockings, and a few random things made the cut. We ended up buying a fake tree (our first one!) and new lights. I enjoyed the glow from Thanksgiving to New Year’s day! It was more of a minimalist holiday vibe, but it still felt good to see some of our decor from home.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
This is the part of the story where things take a turn. Christmas Eve was really fun. We recreated our normal Christmas Eve dinner and prepared a feast of appetizers! We opened presents over zoom, which went better than I thought it would. We dressed up and it felt a little normal. It was a really nice day!
The girls left cookies for Santa and went to bed. At some point during the night, Z. came into our room and had gotten sick. S. had walked her to the bathroom. Both girls were SO scared to come out of their room because they didn’t want Santa to see them! Sweet girls. We had to clarify that if you are going to be sick is is OK to come out of your room. Santa will understand.
So we spent all night up with Z. Poor thing! She was such a trooper, but she was not feeling good. We pushed forward with Christmas morning, but it wasn’t quite as fun as normal. We did have coffee and cinnamon rolls. The whole time, Zech and I were trying to decide if WE felt sick, or if it was all in our heads.
Funny side note, Pillsbury items are hot items at the commissary (the American grocery store on post) during the holidays. If you want cinnamon rolls, crescent rolls, or biscuits you better stock up when the opportunity strikes. Someone posted in the community Facebook group that the commissary had Pillsbury items and Zech just happened to be out. YES!
Fast forward a few hours, it was not all in our heads. Zech felt sick too. We postponed our dinner plans, moved our Christmas celebration with my family back a day, and just had a relaxing day of movies. I had peanut butter toast for dinner on the couch by myself after everyone went to bed at 7pm. Merry Christmas!
In the coming days we managed to get in video chats with the rest of our family and enjoy our postponed Christmas dinner. All in all, we still had a really nice Christmas. We definitely made some unique 2020 memories.
So jumping ahead to the present, today we are getting ready to send our girls back to in-person school. We are all really excited. I am also fully prepared to miss them. Motherhood is such a strange journey of wanting everyone around you and no one around you all at the same time:)
It feels like the first day of school all over again. Zech is out getting lunch supplies, the backpacks are ready, and masks are in the wash. S. said to me yesterday, “I just LOVE to prepare.” Ha! Z. planned her outfit on Friday and both girls have already set their backpacks by the door. They are SO ready to see their friends and teachers. Which makes me happy! They have done such a good job handling the transition here AND the transition from in-person to virtual school and now back again. Their enthusiasm is a great reminder of how well they have done!
I hope YOU have a wonderful February and I hope to write again soon. Sending love to our family and friends!
Guten Tag! Starting a family blog has been on my “to-do” list since we arrived. Today is the day! I can’t promise I’ll blog often or consistently, but I know that future me will be thankful any time I spend documenting our time here in Germany.
We’ve already been here for 4-months. Rather than go backwards, I thought I’d start with some general observations about how our daily life here is different. We haven’t experienced any extreme culture shock (it could definitely still be coming.. so I am not counting that out yet!), but there are things here that have been an adjustment.
Also, lots of observations that have made me feel like such an American! I don’t think I’ve ever been so aware of my own culture and habits.
Even though we live off post, we have access to the military base and our kids attend the American school. That has definitely helped eased the transition. Our 2-week quarantine was also a nice soft landing. Plenty of time to sleep off jet lag, gather research, and wrap our heads around our move before we had to take action.
So, in no particular order, some observations about our daily life:
Walking is a THING.
Similar to the USA, this may be amplified because of the current pandemic. But, walking has to be the most popular pastime in Germany. There are trails everywhere. One of the first things we noticed was how often you see people just walking through fields along the side of the road.
The parks are filled with families out for a stroll. We have always been an active family, but it is fun to see even MORE people living active lifestyles. Also, when families are out walking, it is not always active exercise. People are dressed in normal clothes. HA! One of our first trips to the park, we instantly noticed woman in heels and men in jackets. If we are going to go for a walk we throw on our workout clothes. It’s just an interesting difference!
Recycling is Intense.
One of our first walks downtown, S. had to throw away a granola bar wrapper. I sent her towards a row of garbage cans. She came back and asked “which one?”. I looked closer and there were five garbage cans lining the fence, all with different colored lids and labels. I just stuffed the wrapper in my pocket. More research was needed!
We sort our trash into paper/ cardboard, general recycling (plastics, wrappers, most containers), food scrapes, glass, and finally, garbage. What has been the MOST eye opening is how little garbage we have after pulling all those other items out. The garbage container for our whole building is smaller than the container we had for just our house. It has definitely made me think about packaging and waste more than I ever did when we were home.
You can recycle SO much more here than you can in Missouri. Residents in Germany can be fined for not sorting your garbage properly (glad I put that wrapper in my pocket!). Before outdoor and indoor dining were shut down, we also noticed how restaurants avoided disposable items. Even the food court in the mall serves fast food on real plates and gives you proper silverware! The pumpkin patch served soup in mason jars!
Don’t Forget Your Hat.
As soon as the weather started changing, we noticed the kids at the park were (in our eyes) VERY prepared for the weather. Kids wear hats, neck warmers, gloves, and boots as soon as the temperature drops below 65 degrees. We also noticed that a lot of kids wear what I now know are rain pants. They look just like snow pants but are lighter in weight. For younger children, they make full body options. There are many afternoons at the playground when Z. is running around with no coat and German children are dressed head to toe in their winter gear!
Initially, this seemed like overkill, but I am coming around. The weather here (so far) is more mild than at home, but it does rain a lot! Every time we play outside, we need a full change of clothes when we get home. We have dedicated play shoes and school shoes. The mud is no joke! So we may embrace the rain pants and save ourselves from the extra laundry. Z. wants the pants and S. is not convinced.
Learning German is Hard.
We are trying to learn German greetings, how to order food, and how to not offend people everywhere we go. We have picked up a litle in the time we’ve been here, but definitely need to step it up! It’s true that many people here speak English. BUT, I think when people say that they are thinking about going on vacation. Setting up utilities, making friends, and navigating daily life is different. Think about calling Verizon and dealing with a “press 1 if you’d like to…”. Now imagine that in a language you don’t speak. Ha!
We have gained so much more compassion for people that have to navigate life in the USA when English is not their first language. We are also VERY thankful for all the kind people we’ve met that don’t seem offended by our lack of language skills. Shopping, ordering food, and making appointments still stress me out. We’ve made mistakes! I attempted to order cinnamon rolls at Ikea and got veggie dogs instead. Tears were shed.
We will keep working on it!
Germany is Adorable.
This adventure is my first experience in Europe. I didn’t really know what to expect. Something that I am constantly reminded of, is just how cute Germany is. The buildings, the gardens, the windows! On one of our first morning walks exploring (down a cobblestone street obviously) we were greeted by residents opening up their windows for the day. Zech started singing “Bonjour, Bonjour” from Beauty and the Beast and we ALL laughed so hard. It’s exactly like a scene from a movie! All the time!
There is such a rich scene of tradition and rituals here. The pace of life is slower. Sundays are dedicated to being with family. NOTHING is open. Even the larger grocery stores and retail chains.
The slower pace shows up in Germany in little ways too. Ordering coffee to drink on site rather than to go. Taking the time to put something on a plate vs. a paper towel. Making a point to enjoy the latest seasonal treat. I hope that a little of that will rub off on us during our time here.
Finally, Open Your Windows.
When we were in our hotel, our room got cleaned every few days. Whenever the staff came, they would open up all the windows while they worked. Screens are not a thing here, so it did seem a little different. Also, most windows open like french doors. We were on the 1st floor, so that meant that our girls could just return to the window when they needed a snack while playing outside. A perk for them!
When we moved into our apartment, we were given a pamphlet about the important of opening your windows, especially during the winter. It is impossible to walk around Germany without noticing windows open in buildings. This is true in ALL seasons regardless of the weather. You are encouraged to open all your windows, all the way, for at least 5 min. every day in all seasons.
After some googling and a little back and forth between Zech and me, we have to come to agreement that this is really a thing and not just based on a wives-tale. So after we take a shower, we open the window. While we are cleaning, we open the windows. We make a point to open the windows in our living area once a day. We’re not quite up to the daily whole house requirement… but we’re getting there!
So, quoting my dad, “and that’s what I know”.
Even though we haven’t been able to travel much since we’ve been here, we feel really lucky to have this experience. The girls have been such good sports. Between a 45 day hotel stay, a new school, and over two months living out of a suitcase, I am SO proud of them (and us!). This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that we are thankful for.
I hope to write more and include details of our adventures. Thank you for following along and a giant thank you to our families for their support. The Ziebarth Inn is ready to accept visitors as soon as it’s safe to do so. By then, we will have some pretty epic itineraries that show off ALL Germany has to offer.
Tschüss!
